Tennessee State Museum

Tennessee State Museum has one of the largest museums in the nation. Interpretive exhibits begin 15,000 years ago with prehistoric people and continue through the early 1900s,with special displays of furniture, silver, weapons, quilts, and paintings. The museum’s Civil War holdings of uniforms, battle flags and weapons are among the finest in the nation. The museum also has many one-of-a-kind items associated with such famous Americans as Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone, James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, David Crockett, Sam Houston, Alvin York and Cordell Hull. In addition, there are special exhibits about African American soldiers in the Civil War, a free black family living in Knoxville before 1860 and the women’s suffrage movement.The Military Museum, a branch of the Tennessee State Museum, is located in the War Memorial Building across the street from the main museum. Exhibits deal with America's overseas conflicts, beginning with the Spanish-American War in 1898 and ending with World War II in 1945.