Museum of Appalachia

06/03/2026

Get ready to party like it's 1776 with our NEW America250 collection! 🎆🦅🗽

Get your merch today and level up your fit for our America250 Independence Day Anvil Shoot Celebration 😎

Tickets for our Anvil Shoot Celebration are on sale for a limited time. Grab yours before June 23 for a discounted price! For more information or to purchase tickets-> https://www.museumofappalachia.org/independence-day/

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📸 by: Odd Soul Photography

06/02/2026

Animal of the Month: Rice 🐖

Rice came to the museum as a piglet in the fall of 2022. His brother, Louie, was already living at the museum and after noticing he needed a companion, we brought home the last piglet of the litter…the runt. Rice and Louie bonded immediately and have been inseparable ever since.

Even though he’s grown quite a bit since arriving at the museum, Rice has never quite outgrown his “little brother” personality. He tends to follow Louie’s lead and has a gentle, timid nature about him. His favorite things include:

-Belly rubs
-Naps
-His mud hole
-Napping in his mud hole
-Snuggling with Louie (when Louie allows it)

You can often spot Rice grazing, snoozing, or cooling off in the mud in our cantilever field.

As a reminder, our animals are on carefully managed diets and receive all of their food and treats from our animal care staff. While visiting, please help us keep them healthy by refraining from feeding them.

06/01/2026

You don't want to miss our Independence Day Anvil Shoot Celebration on July 3rd and 4th! 🎇

Celebrate Tennessee America 250 with:
-Revolutionary War encampments✨
-Militia drills✨
-Anvil shoots✨
-and SO much more!✨

Tickets are discounted for a limited time at museumofappalachia.org!

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/entertainment/2026/05/26/east-tennessee-will-celebrate-americas-250th-with-history-music/90058919007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z11xx26p001050l003850c001050e009600v11xx26d--xx--b--xx--&gca-ft=180&gca-ds=sophi

Special events honoring America's 250th anniversary are happening in Knoxville and around East Tennessee this summer and the rest of the year.

05/29/2026

LAST CHANCE‼️

This is the LAST weekend that memberships will be 20% off! A Museum membership includes benefits such as:

-Free unlimited admission 🐦
-Free admission to most events, including our upcoming America 250 Anvil Shoot Celebration! 🎆
-10% Discount in Gift Shop 👛
-Free beverage with each meal purchase in our restaurant 🥃
-& MORE! 😋

Don't miss out on this chance! Sale ends May 31st, 2026. You can purchase your membership in person or online by following this link--> https://www.museumofappalachia.org/membership-form/

05/28/2026

Artifact of the Week: The Williams' Family Sundial

Thomas Lanier Williams III (1911-1983), better known as "Tennessee” Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter known for works such as "The Glass Menagerie," "A Streetcar Named Desire," and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Williams chose the moniker due to his father's Tennessee lineage. During a 1966 interview with Playbill, Williams stated, "I was a Southern writer because my parents were Southern, and I was born in the South. I took the name of Tennessee because my father’s family were Tennesseans."

Williams came from a long line of prominent citizens in Southern Appalachia. His 3rd great-grandfather Colonel Joseph Williams (1748-1827) was a Revolutionary War hero and was known to be "exceedingly obnoxious" to the British. So much so, that he thwarted an attempt by three Tories who had planned to have him killed.

Colonel Williams' son John Williams (1778-1837), Tennessee Williams' 2nd great-grandfather, was a captain in the War of 1812, served with General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Knox County, and was a United States Senator from Tennessee. Williams married Malinda White, daughter of Knoxville's founder, James White. In Washington D.C., Williams was known for his "dapper" dress and was called the 'Chesterfield of the Senate' (referring to the elegantly dressed English Lord Chesterfield) by First Lady Dolly Madison.

According to folklore, on a trip to Washington, Williams stopped to "snap off a switch to use in prodding his horse." When he reached for the branch, he was bitten by something (a scorpion, snake, or bee) and succumbed to his wound. He was buried at the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Knoxville.

John Williams' son, also John Williams (1818-1881), was the great-grandfather of Tennessee Williams. He was a staunch supporter of the Union during the Civil War and was part of a group who declared secession unconstitutional and attempted to split off East Tennessee from the rest of the state. Upon his death, the newspaper referred to him as one of the "best known citizens of Knox County." He was buried at the Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville.

Thomas Lanier Williams II (1849-1908), the grandfather whom Tennessee Williams in named for, was a Knoxville lawyer and the state's railroad commissioner. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Tennessee on several occasions. Like his father, he was also buried in Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville.

The pictured sundial, which is located on the grounds of the Museum of Appalachia, was from the garden of John Williams' Knoxville home (the great-grandfather of Tennessee Williams).

Source: "Tennessee Williams and His Appalachian Pedigree" by Delonda Anderson for Appalachia Bare (July 1, 2021).

05/28/2026

Check out our Curator, Eric Ashton, featured on The Appalachian Storyteller! He was interviewed for a segment about Anderson County native Mary Foust. You can watch the video here --> https://youtu.be/s_9IfI8tJzc?si=nf_nMvF9FsUcX1Uy&t=893

05/26/2026

Before & After: The Big Tater Valley Schoolhouse Restoration

As part of our ongoing Pioneer Village Restoration initiative, the Museum of Appalachia recently completed critical repairs to the historic Big Tater Valley Schoolhouse.

After more than two centuries of age, the structure had developed serious structural and foundation issues that threatened its long-term stability. Thanks to the generosity of Jenny Boyd, the Museum was able to rebuild a shifted foundation and stabilize the sill logs— critical preservation work that will help protect this beloved structure for generations to come.

This restoration was especially meaningful, as Jenny funded the project in memory of her father, Major Claude D. Houbler, a beloved Bearden High School teacher. Honoring the legacy of an educator through the preservation of a historic Appalachian schoolhouse feels especially fitting.

Built in the early 1800s on the banks of Bull Run Creek in Big Tater Valley, the one-room log structure was originally constructed by pioneer Crocket Skeens, who operated a water-powered sawmill nearby. When Museum founder John Rice Irwin first encountered the building in the 1960s, it stood abandoned and half-fallen.

The structure served as the neighborhood schoolhouse until 1890, when Tapps Chapel School was built. Afterward, owner Mayona Bowers moved into the building with her husband and two children and transformed the former schoolhouse into a family home. While living there, she gave birth to 13 additional children, and over the years, at least seven more families called the little structure home.

We are deeply grateful to Jenny Boyd for helping preserve this remarkable piece of Southern Appalachian history.

Photos by Odd Soul Photography and Lily Caldwell

05/22/2026

Celebrate America’s 250th birthday with one of the most unique Independence Day traditions in the country!

Join us July 3rd & 4th for our expanded two-day America250 Anvil Shoot Celebration featuring multiple anvil shoots each day, Revolutionary War reenactors, militia drills, live music, storytelling, artisan demonstrations, and more!

🎟 Advance tickets are on sale now — and Early Bird pricing is available through June 22! Members receive FREE admission.

More info: museumofappalachia.org/independence-day

05/21/2026

Artifact of the Week: Elmer Bird's "Red Cross" Army Guitar

Elmer Bird (1920-1997) was one of the greatest "old-time" banjo players, a title he was awarded 4 times by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America. Born in Putnam County, West Virginia, Bird was one of eleven children born to Andrew Jackson and Lottie Johnson Bird. As a boy, Bird taught himself the banjo by watching his father play each night after working on the family farm.

After six months of trying to make it as a professional musician with his cousin George, Bird was drafted into the army and served in Sicily and North Africa in 1943 during World War II. While in Italy, Bird purchased two Italian mandolins (a conventional one and an arched back "potato bug") and brought a good bit of informal entertainment to his comrades-in-arms during their campaign.

The constant travel and primitive living conditions eventually destroyed the mandolins. However, grateful Red Cross officials supplied Bird with a guitar to enable him to continue to bring a little cheer to the battle-fatigued soldiers. As Bird recalls, the then-new instrument had cost the Red Cross "sixty-some dollars." After the war, he brought the guitar back with him to his native Turkey Creek in Putnam County in 1945.

Once home, Bird married Beulah Edwards and took work first as a truck driver and then as an employee at Union Carbide's South Charleston plant. After retiring, Bird made the decision to become a full-time musician and entertainer. While playing a show with David Morris, the traditional musician forgot Bird's name and referred to him as "The Banjo Man From Turkey Creek," a name that stuck with him the rest of his career. A chance meeting with grammy award winning musician John Hartford in 1975 proved beneficial for Bird's career, as the accomplished musician went on to produce and play fiddle for 3 out of 5 of Bird's albums: Bumble Bee Waltz (1985), Turkey Creek (1987), and George How I Miss You (1992). The final album was in honor of his cousin, who had been killed during the Normandy landings of 1944.

Pictured: Photo of guitar by Gaby Fox.

Bird while serving during World War II.

Bird, aged 70, in front of the Museum of Appalachia's Hall of Fame building holding the Red Cross guitar in the early summer of 1990 (photo by John Rice Irwin).

05/20/2026

Check out our brand new Hacker Martin Gristmill shirts! 🎉

We were extremely fortunate to collaborate with Paris Woodhull Illustrations to add a brand-new design to our lineup. These cozy tees are printed on Comfort Colors and feature our iconic Hacker Martin Gristmill. Perfect for museum friends or anyone who wants to take a little piece of Appalachia home.

Stay tuned for more designs coming soon👀

📸 by Odd Soul Photography