We invite you to visit the village, farm, and exhibits at the Museum of Appalachia. We are only one mile off of Interstate 75, but our picturesque pastures, historic 19th century buildings, and authentic old-time music will make you feel as if you've traveled back in time.
With more than 30 historic log buildings gathered onto 63 acres and hundreds of exhibits celebrating the creativity and color of our Appalachian forebears, the Museum annually hosts over 100,000 visitors who view thousands of relics in authentic settings. It was, in fact, founder John Rice Irwin's intention to develop the Museum as an authentic representation of early life in Appalachia, seeking to make the dwellings appear as if the family has just strolled down to the spring to fetch the day's supply of water.
In addition to hosting thousands of families, schoolchildren, weddings and reunions, basket collectors, and historians each year, the Museum celebrates the seasons with three special events:
Our annual fall festival, Tennessee Fall Homecoming, is one of the largest and oldest music and crafts festivals in the Southeast. Now in its 28th year, Homecoming features traditional music and dancing, with craftsmen, cooks, and cloggers serving up four days of lively entertainment and authentic sights and sounds of the remote Southern Appalachians.
Come join us rattle the windows and shake the hills with our July 4th Celebration and Anvil Shoot. We'll be demonstrating old-time mountain activities, and we always have something special planned for the children.
During the month of December, visitors can see the Museum transformed with traditional trees and homemade Christmas decorations, typical of austere pioneer days, in its authentic log buildings. And in the spirit of holiday giving, the Museum throws its doors open for its annual Christmas Open House, with free admission in exchange for a donation to the local food pantry. Details about the Open House and Christmas in Old Appalachia can be found by following the link above.
We also have a small restaurant on the grounds where you can enjoy some old-fashioned country cooking, and there is a gift shop featuring regionally-made quilts, baskets, and pottery. The Museum is open all year, with extended hours in the spring and summer.
4th of July Activities!
The Museum of Appalachia's July 4 Celebration & Anvil Shoot is a truly nostalgic, old-fashioned, and family-oriented way to celebrate Independence Day and to experience summertime in Old Appalachia.
The dramatic anvil shoot is the highlight of the July 4 event. Several times during the day, excitement builds as crowds gather to watch as gunpowder is packed under the anvil and ignited. With a loud boom, the hunk of iron bursts from a cloud of smoke, catapulting as high as the treetops some 125 feet into the air. The earth literally shakes, and the deafening boom, it is said, can be heard as far away as 15 miles.
This year, an expanded slate of activities is scheduled for the Fourth. Musical performances will include traditional and bluegrass bands, dulcimer playing in the Hall of Fame, and informal "porch picking" at several log cabins. An old-time "brush arbor" will host church services and hymn singing.
Mountain activities will be demonstrated, including rail-splitting, cross-cut sawing, basket-making, whittling, corn grinding, sheep herding, quilting, and blacksmithing—and the old-time circular sawmill will be in operation.
There’ll be cake walks, with proceeds benefiting the Museum’s Endowment Fund. Visitors can match their skills at the game of Checkers with master player Robert Butler.
Tasty traditional treats will be available, including homemade ice cream (churned by “horsepower”), hot fruit cobblers baked over the coals in Dutch ovens, sassafras tea freshly brewed over the fire, Tennessee barbeque, and fresh sliced watermelon.
Visitors may also tour the extensive village-farm complex, with dozens of historic log structures, display buildings containing tens of thousands of authentic Appalachian artifacts, gardens surrounded by split rail fences, and a variety of farm animals in a traditional farm setting. The Hall of Fame offers a portrait of the Appalachian people, both famous and not-so-famous—and in air-conditioned comfort.
In the entrance building are a large craft and gift shop containing handiwork from area artisans, and a restaurant featuring fresh-from-the-garden produce and mouthwatering home-style desserts.
Throughout the summer, the Museum is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., with live old-time music played daily for visitors on the porch of the Peters Smokehouse. Traditional gardens will be producing their bounty of fresh tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs, greens, and other vegetables. Other seasonal demonstrations are offered periodically; call for events scheduled on specific days.
