Humphreys County Museum - Waverly, TN

This museum is located inside the Archibald Butterfield House which was built in 1922 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's located at Fort Hill, which was a Union Civil War fort overlooking Waverly and the important railroad line.

Customs House at Night - Clarksville, TN

From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customs_House_Museum_and_Cultural_C...
The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is Tennessee's second largest general interest museum. It features fine art, history, and children's exhibits. It is located in Clarksville, TN's Downtown District on 200 South 2nd Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as Clarksville Federal Building. It was established in 1984 as the Clarksville Montgomery County Museum.

The 1898 portion of the Museum was originally designed for use as a Federal post office and custom house to handle the large volume of foreign mail created by the city's international tobacco business. It is built on the site of a former boarding house.

The structure was designed by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, William Martin Aiken, in the eclectic style popular to Victorian America. Aiken incorporated many architectural styles including Stick, Queen Anne, Italianate, Romanesque, Flemish and Gothic. Its highly pitched roof with large eagles on the four corners, steep gabled windows and elaborate terra cotta ornamentation combine to give importance to a relatively small building. Contrary to popular myth, the design was not inspired by the architect's visit to China.

The building was constructed by Charles A. Moses of Chicago.

Video: Days Gone By Museum - Portland, TN

There is a not well known museum in the small town of Portland, TN which is worth the drive from Nashville. It started as a private collection of tractors, but has expanded to much more, including multiple forms of transportation: Cars (hot rods, race cars, Volkswagens, 1920s, etc.), trucks, motorcycles, fire engines, a couple of planes and a caboose. Other highlights include vintage toys, cameras, and Maytag.

If you'd like to see a gallery of the items in this video, check here:
http://seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=Sumner_County%2FDays+Gone+By+Museum

Rachel H.K. Burrow Museum - Arlington, TN

This old home / museum is located in Arlington, a suburb of Memphis.

From the Historic Marker:
Early pioneers settled in the Arlington area around 1830. A depot, called Withe Station, was established in 1856. The land was given by General Samuel Jackson Hays. In 1872 his land holdings were sold at public auction and the community became Haysville, incorporated in 1878. The name was changed to Arlington in 1883, and again incorporated in 1900. In 1905, the Arlington Bank and Trust Company was established in this building.

James K. Polk Ancestral Home - Columbia, TN

From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk_Ancestral_Home
The James K. Polk Ancestral Home is a historic house museum at 301 West 7th Street in Columbia, Tennessee. Built in 1816, it is the only surviving private residence of United States President James K. Polk. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The James K. Polk House is located just west of the commercial central downtown area of Columbia, at the southwest corner of West 7th and South High Streets. It is an L-shaped brick building, two stories in height, with a gabled roof. The front facade, facing West 7th Street, is three bays wide, with the main entrance in the rightmost bay, recessed in a segmented-arch opening. The door is flanked by sidelight windows and topped by a semi-oval transom window with tracery, and the interior walls of the recess are paneled. The other bays house windows, which are topped by lintels of brick and a stone keystone. The interior retains finishes period to its construction, but has otherwise been adapted for museum displays. The property includes a reproduction of the kitchen outbuilding that would have been present during Polk's residency; none of the outbuildings from his time survive.

The house was built in 1816 by Samuel Polk, and was the home of his son, U.S. President James K. Polk, for several years as a young adult. It is the only surviving private residence associated with President Polk to survive. James lived in the house until 1819, when he left to read law in Nashville, and for a time after his return to Columbia, where he opened his law practice. The house remained in the Polk family for many years, and passed through several owners before its acquisition by the state of Tennessee in 1929. The museum is operated by the James K. Polk Association. The fountain on the site was moved here in 1893 after Polk Place, the president's later home, was demolished.

Old Roane County Courthouse - Kingston, TN

Built in 1854, its one of 6 courthouses in TN built before the civil war that still stands today. Used as a Courthouse until 1974 when the new one was built. It was used as a civil war hospital and graffiti written by civil war soldiers can still be seen on the inside. The state of Tennessee placed an Obelisk in the front yard commemorating this as the location of the state capital (for one day in 1807). Today, the building is used as a museum.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roane_County_Courthouse_(Tennessee)

Washington County Courthouse - Springfield, KY

I previously drove through here in 2006, and at the time it was still used as a courthouse. Since then, a new courthouse has opened across the street and this has become the Lincoln Legacy Museum.

According to plaques on the grounds, Abraham Lincoln was never certain his parents were married when he was born. In those days, that was a scandal which would have disqualified him from being President in the opinion of many voters. He hired investigators to find proof of their marriage, which did not happen before his assassination. Later in 1878, the marriage certificate was found in this courthouse.

Mare about the courthouse from Wikipedia:
The Washington County Courthouse in Springfield in Washington County, Kentucky is located on Springfield's Public Square, at Main at Lincoln Park Rd. It was built during 1814-15. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

It is a two-story brick courthouse, with brick laid in Flemish bond. Among other changes designed by architect Frank Brewer, it has an octagonal cupola added in 1840.

It is included as a contributing building in the Springfield Main Street Historic District.

Johnny Cash Museum

During Cash's lifetime, his museum was located at his business office in Hendersonville, TN and was known as "House of Cash." This modern museum is one of the top museums for country music fans in Nashville where it is located along 3rd Ave. in downtown.
www.johnnycashmuseum.com/

Sgt. Alvin C. York - Tennessee Military Museum

Tennesseean Sgt. York was a prominent hero from World Wat I. This display includes a painting and his uniform. The Tennessee Military Museum is a branch of the Tennessee State Museum located in War Memorial Plaza in downtown Nashville.

Nicholas Gotten House - Bartlett, TN

Text from Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Gotten_House
The Nicholas Gotten House is located on 2969 Court Street in Bartlett, TN. It houses the Bartlett Museum, a local history museum operated by the Bartlett Historical Society.

The white frame structure was built by Nicholas Gotten in 1871 in the New England saltbox style. A saltbox is a wooden frame house with a long, pitched roof that slopes down to the back.

Nicholas Gotten immigrated from Germany at the age of 22 in 1854. He was a blacksmith and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. In the years following the war, Gotton made a living as a miller and ginner. He and his wife Julia Coleman raised three children in the house.

Until the late 1970s, the Gotten House was owned by the City of Bartlett and used as the Bartlett Police Station. In the early 1980s, the house was leased by the City of Bartlett to the Bartlett Historic Society in a 50-year contract for $1 per year, to save the house from planned demolition and to refurbish the property. The structure became the seat of the Bartlett Historic Society, and since 1990 it has housed the Bartlett Museum. Exhibits on display at the museum are of relevance to local history: the collection includes photographs, written documents on the history of Bartlett, artifacts, and period furniture. The museum is open to the public every first and third Sunday of the month from 2-4 pm. Admission to the museum is free.

On March 20, 2002, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After a $100,000 renovation in 2007, which included authentic new windows, doors and fixtures, the Gotten house was declared a Bartlett Historic Landmark by the Bartlett Historic Preservation Commission in 2008.

Rachel H.K. Burrow Museum - Arlington, TN

This old home / museum is located in Arlington, a suburb of Memphis.

From the Historic Marker:
Early pioneers settled in the Arlington area around 1830. A depot, called Withe Station, was established in 1856. The land was given by General Samuel Jackson Hays. In 1872 his land holdings were sold at public auction and the community became Haysville, incorporated in 1878. The name was changed to Arlington in 1883, and again incorporated in 1900. In 1905, the Arlington Bank and Trust Company was established in this building.

Lorraine Motel / National Civil Rights Museum

As America honors Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday in January, I'd like to share this photo of the National Civil Rights Museum that promotes the vision that Dr. King embraced.

Walter Bailey purchased the Windsor Hotel in 1945 and renamed it the Lorraine Motel. Located close to the center of Memphis, during the days of segregation the motel catered to an upscale black clientele.

In April 1968, King traveled to Memphis in support of striking sanitation workers. King stayed in room 306, located on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel. At 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968 while he was standing on the balcony outside his room, King was struck by a single bullet, causing him to fall backwards unconscious.

Following the assassination, Bailey left Room 306 undisturbed. While the Motel remained open for a few more years, Bailey worked to preserve the motel as a historic site raising funds to Save the Lorraine. The Martin Luther King Memorial Foundation bought the motel in 1982. The Motel officially closed in 1998 as the property transformed into a museum.

For architectural designs, the museum called upon McKissack & McKissack from Nashville, the first African American architecture firm in America. After purchasing adjoining property, the museum opened in Sept. 1991.

Today, on the grounds of the museum, a wreath is placed at the balcony where King was hit. The original sign for the museum has been preserved outside. From this iconic photo from the balcony there are two cars visible below, and there are replicas of these two cars at the museum today. For now, customers of the museum are allowed to look into the window of Room 306.

Robert Penn Warren Birthplace Museum - Guthrie, KY

According to the marker:
Robert Penn Warren - 1905-1989
A native of Guthrie, Warren was one of the nation's most prolific writers, a world-renowned man of letters. Graduate of Vanderbilt Univ., summa cum laude, 1925; member of the Fugitives (writers group). Rhodes scholar at Oxford, 1928-1930; and twice a Guggenheim Fellow. He was professor of English at La. State, Minnesota, and Yale universities.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Penn_Warren

The Colonel's Mandolin Band LP

Favorite Old Church Hymns recorded by The Colonel's Mandolin Band for the glorification of Christ.

This vintage record album was seen at the mini-museum inside of the first KFC, otherwise known as Sanders Cafe, in Corbin, KY. Personally, I prefer the beauty of the human voice, but I bet I would find this album quite interesting. More than anything, just seeing this reminds me how the times have changed. Today, is there any well-known fast food chain other than Chik-Fil-A that would attempt such a recording?

Johnny Cash Museum neon sign

During Cash's lifetime, his museum was located at his business office in Hendersonville, TN and was known as "House of Cash." This modern museum is one of the top museums for country music fans in Nashville where it is located along 3rd Ave. in downtown. This neon sign was not here on my previous walk through the area in the Spring of 2015
www.johnnycashmuseum.com/

Old Bartow Co. Courthouse - Cartersville, GA

Cartersville, GA has two courthouses. I wouldn't call the ornate 1903 courthouse "new" but it replaced this one as the current courthouse still.

This building was built in 1873, but eventually was moved. Since the courthouse was near the tracks, trains blowing their whistles would interrupt court proceedings.

Not too long ago, this older courthouse opened as a local history museum after presumably sitting vacant for a while.

Partially obstructing the view is where Church Street now has a bridge over the railroad tracks. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Robert H. Smith Law Office - Decatur, TN

Located on Smith Ave in Decatur, The 1948 Law Office is now part of the Meigs County Historical Museum. The museum next door was built with a similar look of the law office which is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Frist Center at Night

Frist Center of the Visual Arts in the art deco building that used to be the main Nashville post office on broadway.

Charles Jackson Circus Museum - Hopkinsville, KY

Located in Downtown Hopkinsville, this is one of three museums all together, along with the Pennyroyal Museum and the Woody Winfree Fire-Transportation Museum

www.museumsofhopkinsville.org/circus/

Tennessee Central Railway Museum

Located at the site of the TC headquarters, most of the Tennessee Central Buildings are gone, but several still remain. The actual museum is held in the building seen here, which was used as the Master Mechanic's shop. Also inside is a small gift shop and a model train hobby shop. Today, the museum is best known for its excursion trains. From here, it's a short walk to the tracks to see their restored passenger cars as well as their other rolling stock.

For more info:
www.tcry.org/