Tennessee State Museum — Attraction in Nashville-Davidson

I went to the museum for the first time a few days ago. I stopped in with friends after walking around the area for several hours, so the first thing I noticed was the fantastic air conditioning, lol. We also stored our things in the lockers, which are pretty clever and easy to use. (The lockers are not massive, but they’re big enough to store a backpack and a crumpled shopping bag. My collapsible umbrella was a struggle to fit, though.)

There was plenty to see at the museum, and all for free. I could’ve probably spent all day looking around at everything in there, but we were tired so we just looked at the permanent tennessee timeline exhibit and the temporary tennessee photography exhibit.

I loved the atmospheric aspects of the timeline exhibit. The videos were a good moment to take a load off my feet after walking all day, and the displays were good at communicating the significance of the information and artifacts shown. I never felt that dazed “I’m just looking at a wall of whatever objects and I don’t understand when it’s from or how it relates to history” feeling I’ve felt at some other museums.

I loved how humanizing and detailed the photography exhibit was. It was also quite dark to protect the photos, so that helped me with a headache that was coming on, lol. The photography exhibit had info on the development of the medium of photography, placards introducing some of Tennessee’s prolific early photographers, and whatever background info on the photos is available. My favorite photos were the photos of children. Specifically, there was one photo of a child where the woman holding her was holding the child’s head still, which made me laugh. I also found myself crying over the photo of a young girl placed next to her own certificate of sale as a slave. I was relieved to see she made it to emancipation, but I can’t imagine how an early life like that during such important developmental years would affect somebody. I also really liked the clothes, cameras, and the other physical artifacts associated with photography in the 1800s. I’ve never felt so transported by a museum exhibit before. If you’re considering going anytime soon after I post this, please go look at this show!

Between the two big exhibits I saw, I felt that the people in charge of putting together these exhibits for the Tennesseee State Museum must be some of the best in their field. The flow of each felt really natural, the information was memorable, and the displays were beautiful. My only regret was not having more time and energy to spend there. Thankfully, I go to the nearby park and farmer’s market regularly, so this will have to become another common recreational stop for me.

My one complaint: I won’t dock a star for this, since I don’t need to be spending my money on knickknacks really, but I wish that at least a few of the gift shop items were more relevant to the shows on in the galleries. I can buy random goods from TN businesses at the Pick TN store in the farmer’s market next door. How about something that will remind me of the lovely museum visit I just had?

Oh, last thing, you should go out onto the public balcony upstairs and look out over Bicentennial park and up at the Nashville skyline. I’ve been on a lot of rooftops and balconies in Nashville, but this is still one of the prettiest views I’ve seen.

Overall, this museum was a comfortable, beautiful, and high-quality experience. I am very happy it exists, and I will...

This museum is fabulous. Great history of people, places, events, and leadership in the State of TN. Even better: IT IS COMPLETELY FREE! We spent 3-4 hours looking at everything from Prehistoric times to present times, leaving nothing out. From Territory status to Statehood in 1796, details are interesting and informative. There are many video presentations and depictions of local events from development, research, and the slave period in America's history. As newcomers to Tennessee, we truly appreciated this museum.

We saw the first electric appliances, like irons, stoves, refrigerators, and washing machines. Most displayed next to the vintage items impressively revealing the advancements in this technology.

We learned about Tennesseeans who became senators/congressmen, president and astronauts. Did you know Oak Ridge, TN is known for development of stages of the atom bomb used in the bombing of Hiroshima and which is credited with ending WWII? Big events began in small places. WOW. So much more you can see and learn about at this historic museum. Music, dance and even education have their own exhibits. We are fortunate to have this here for our benefit.

Teachers, youth groups and friends, and families who want a little more adventure can call ahead and ask for the age-related scavenger hunt pages. While we were there, the Nashville Boys Chior was there. Varying age groups. All were hunting and seemed to be really enjoying finding everything on their lists. What a great way to we engage and easily verify learning.

We did not drive this time, but there appeared to be plenty of parking. Just to the left of the front entrance, you can see the Nashville Farmers Market where we went for lunch and enjoyed some really good Greek food ... Gyros and Dolmas salads. I'll review the Farmers...

The Tennessee State Museum has to be, hands down, one of the best museums I have ever visited in the state - let alone, the entire Eastern USA! It's free admission, has a huge display of history and on top of it, is right by the Farmer's market and the Bicentennial state park. My partner and I were just finishing up our browse through the former before arriving here. The staff here were very welcoming, and that included the Security there too! The museum had a mix of antiques, information boards, short movie clips, and a few interactive games. One of the Security guards stopped by to show us how to do one of the games, and gave us a brief about transportation in Tennessee over 50+ years ago with carts. You can tell the staff here really enjoy their job here, and talk to visitors. At times my partner and I got a bit lost due to how much there is shown here, organized by the timeline of events, but eventually we got it. I didn't want to miss a single moment of it. My favourite section was the military history of Tennessee. Seeing the uniforms and notable veterans who served really intrigued me.

The only downside was the parking; because there are 3 notable landmarks of Nashville in one area, visitors going to any or all 3 places were sharing the same parking area. So it was quite limited, even on an early Friday noon, when we arrived around 1PM. That's the only reason it lost a star. Besides that though, the Tennessee State Museum is a gem, and a must-visit if you are planning to go to Nashville! I give this museum a...