Officially, The Tennessee State Museum opened in 1937 in Nashville, Tennessee. However, its beginnings can be traced back to 1817 when a portrait artist opened a museum. A portrait of General Andrew Jackson was seen in that museum in 1823 and that same portrait now hangs in the State Museum that is located at Fifth and Deaderick Streets in Nashville.
The museum covers three floors with over 60,000 square feet of fixed exhibits and another 10,000 square feet of changing exhibits. Included in the collection is a military museum with the country's largest collection of Civil War memorabilia, such as uniforms, battle flags, and weapons. Also displayed is a large collection of artifacts from the Spanish-American War, as well as World Wars I and II. One item is the deck gun from the U.S.S. Nashville, which fired the first shot of the Spanish-American War. Other items on display are the Medal of Honor won by Tennessee native Alvin C. York from World War I and a full scale replica of the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima. Other notable items displayed are Davy Crockett’s powder horn and Andrew Jackson's top hat.
In the main facility, opened in 1981, are other notable collection artifacts from famous Tennessee personalities like James K. Polk, Alex Haley, Elvis Presley, and Cordell Hull. They also boast a wonderful collection of Tennessee-made paintings, furniture, ceramics, textiles, firearms, and silver items. The collection totals over 90,000 items of interest.
This is the 150th anniversary of the Tennessee State Capital building landmark and the museum is celebrating the event by having an exhibit to showcase the rich history of the building. Visitors will learn of the engineering and architecture of the building, as well as stories of the Capital's history.
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