The Bath-built Mary E, a historic wooden schooner more than a century old, will be returning home to town this spring.

The Maine Maritime Museum Board of Trustees voted to acquire the Mary E last week, with a goal of raising $1.5 million to purchase, restore and take care of the 73-foot, two-masted fishing schooner, according to Katie Meyers, marketing and communications manager for the museum.

“Since the museum’s board approved the acquisition of this historic vessel, word has spread quickly,” said Amy Lent, the museum’s executive director in a press release. “So many people have commented about the incredible gift this will be for the state of Maine to return this beautiful schooner to the place where she was built. We could not be more excited to restore and preserve this beautiful and significant symbol of Maine’s past.”

The vessel is thought to be the oldest Bath-built ship and the oldest Maine fishing schooner still afloat. Built in 1906, the Mary E would work along the New England coast for the next half century before sinking in a hurricane in 1963. The ship was subsequently raised and towed to Bath, where it was restored at the future site of the museum. The ship has had a number of owners since then, and currently is used for river tours in Connecticut.

This spring, however, the ship will begin its long journey back to the river where it was built and subsequently restored the first time in the 1960s. Once at the museum campus, the ship will be taken off the water for the summer while the restoration is completed, after which it will be docked at the museum campus.

In 2018, the museum will work on crewing the vessel and creating programming for it, said Meyers. According to a press release, the vessel will travel the coast as an ambassador for the Maine Maritime Museum and the City of Ships.

“This is a vessel of remarkable importance, despite its modest size,” said Senior Curator Nathan Lipfert in a press release. “We have compiled a list of historic Maine vessels that are still extant, and there is nothing older, or better, that is available to us. I am very excited about Mary E becoming part of the historic collection of the museum, and I am looking forward to continuing research on her long history.”

nstrout@timesrecord.com