I bet you read the title of this post and thought “The what? Where? Never heard of it and didn’t know it was a thing!” Well, until I got interested in visiting Oak Ridge, Tennessee I would have had those same thoughts spinning around in my head. There will be a whole other “How I Fell in Love with Oak Ridge” post coming so I’ll keep this part brief. Basically, once I decided to visit OR, I started following ALLLL the social media accounts for historic sites/museums in the area. When I travel, I’m going to pack in as many of them as I can. The Museum of Appalachia was top on the list of places to visit. Even after visiting I still say Appalachia “wrong” as a native Atlantan.
Ok, here are the basics. The Museum of Appalachia, a Smithsonian affiliate, is located less than 2 1/2 hours away from Asheville in Norris/Clinton (depending on what you’re looking at), Tennessee. Their website says Clinton but Apple Maps disagreed. I’ll take the website’s word! Please note, if you are coming from Western North Carolina you may have a delay due to I-40 restoration due to hurricane damage. A LOT of hard work has gone into getting this route functional. There’s one lane traffic part of the way but the roads are safe. I was pretty nervous about that ahead of time. Once you get into Tennessee, it’s smooth sailing and you bypass Knoxville congestion with this as your first destination in the area. The museum is very easy to find and well-labeled (important for those of us directionally-challenged folks).
I arrived about 5 minutes before they opened. Hours of operation vary by season so make sure to check ahead of time before going. I went in April and the hours that day were 9:00-5:00. While my inner elementary teacher thought about what a wonderful field trip spot the museum would be, my curmudgeonly solo traveler self knew going on a weekday would be perfect! It was! I was practically the only one there which is ideal when you are someone who likes to take a ton of pictures. And that I did! Admission was only $20 for an adult and it’s the kind of place you could make a whole day of. If I lived locally, I would definitely get a membership. Our museums need support! I was itching to get to Oak Ridge and still spent 2 hours there. There are options to participate in tours and various programming but I just did a self-guided tour.
I was immediately in awe once I arrived because of the sheer expanse of the property and all the buildings. The entrance is an adorable red barn and parking is close by. Prepare yourself for a gravel parking lot if you’re a city person. I grew up in suburbia but have lived in Western North Carolina long enough to deal with that pretty well haha. The red barn is also where the gift shop and cafe are. It’s ADORABLE and I had to make myself wait until after to shop. A gift shop LOVVVESSSS to see me coming (insert cha-ching sound). I was given a brochure/map to follow (I had to self-correct immediately outside) to each of 30 stops. And being the Capricorn I am, I went to ALL of them and even took a picture like I was doing a scavenger hunt.
If you like animals, there are plenty to see along the stops. Most surprising is that there are peacocks! I don’t know if I had ever seen one in person. You can also find your typical farm animals. I’m not really an animal person but did appreciate them in their habitat. You will also find a lot of pretty plants, flowers, and trees. I’m not a botanist y’all. I just took pictures of the ones I thought were pretty. If you are into history, arts, and culture (hand-raise) then this for sure is a place for you! A couple of notes, definitely wear sunscreen if you’re going in spring/summer because you will be outdoors for most of the stops and also wear tennis shoes/comfortable walking shoes. Take it from someone who made sure to wear appropriate footwear after flip-flopping it painfully in the past at other locales.
The first place you will head into is the Appalachian Hall of Fame. All I can say is it’s MIND-BLOWING! There are so many artifacts! It’s organized by topic, too. There is a section for politicians from the area, artists, Native Americans, musicians and MUCH more. The museum has an extremely impressive collection curated by some very talented people. The museum was founded in the late 1960s and has amassed hundreds of thousands of donations over the years. There are also lots of quilts on display which are an integral part of Appalachian heritage. I was excited because the first things you see were WWI related because it had just been the anniversary of America joining the war. There is SOOOOO much to see in this building. I am a Johnny Cash fan so loved seeing the exhibit related to The Carter family. There was a really cute picture of Johnny and June included.
After the Hall of Fame, there are lots of cabins and structures to see across the property including a barn and schoolhouse. With it being Appalachia. of course moonshine is included. Most of them you can walk into. One of the cabins is called the “Arnwine Cabin” and it’s itty-bitty. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s and is possibly the smallest structure on this list.
When you finish the tour you end up back in the gift shop and cafe. If I wasn’t ready to get to OR I would have gotten lunch there. They weren’t quite open yet but were getting ready and it smelled heavenly!The gift shop was open. It was like a Cracker Barrel but a million times better. Cute stuff from local vendors! They also had a very extensive selection of books which I appreciated. I tried to keep my purchases reasonable because it was my first stop. They even had the John Carter Cash cookbook I had previously gotten at a record store so I didn’t have to get that. Of course I had to get a t-shirt! I love vintage postcards and picked up those, too along with some other treasures. Where else can you get an “I Saw a Peacock” magnet??? I guess wherever else peacocks roam. Check out my treasures below! Facial expression is such because it was taken in Asheville after I got back. I loved Oak Ridge and being back home was a real letdown.
If you’re in eastern Tennessee, make a point to check out this museum! You will not regret it! As we know, the humanities are always in danger of losing funding so we must appreciate historical sites and museums will we can. I highly recommend supporting this one! Even if you can’t visit, follow them on social media as a sign of support. You can find a link to that information, operating hours, and way more on their website. Of course I waited until the end of the post so you’d finish reading and then take a look haha! Check it out here https://www.museumofappalachia.org/.
