Tennessee State Museum Tours and Activities

Take a daytrip to the Tennessee State Museum and trace the fascinating history of this southern state, travelling back in time to almost 15,000 years ago.It’s easy to make your way around the museum, with the permanent exhibits arranged chronologically. Your first stop should be the First Tennesseans exhibit, a display dedicated to prehistoric and Indian cultures, containing interesting artefacts such as a steatite shaman’s medicine tube.Afterwards, move along the museum’s historical timeline to the Frontier section which, through interpretive displays, depicts the story of the first Europeans to reach Tennessee, namely Spanish conquistadors, followed by English and French explorers. Experience a real taste of Tennessee’s heritage through the museum’s two full-scale replicas of an authentic frontier cabin and a genuine Conestoga wagon which was used for migration from the east coast to Tennessee in the 1800s.Head to the early 1800s with a visit to The Age of Jackson section and learn about an era of great political development. This section is dedicated to the Southern general and plantation owner, Andrew Jackson, who went to on become the seventh president of the United States. Step into the period between the 1840s and the 1860s to marvel at the craftsmanship, artistry and finery of a wealthy pre-Civil War Tennessee in the Antebellum section.The museum’s extensive Civil War and Reconstruction section, one of the largest in the United States in fact, provides a great insight into a time when the issue of slavery divided the northern and southern states.The museum’s final permanent display, The New South, teaches visitors about women's suffrage and Prohibition from 1870 to 1920, a period of great change fuelled by the post-Civil War industrial revolution.Situated near the State Capitol in central Nashville, the museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday, except on public holidays. Parking is available for a charge in nearby car parks or on the street. Alternatively, you can jump on the free Music City Circulator, which stops right outside the museum.