Just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee is the town of Clinton. There resides a living history museum of the early 20th century life in southern Appalachia. It was founded by John Rice Irwin from the area. He was born in 1930 and died in 2022. At an early age his grandfather encouraged him to start a museum because of his fascination with old vintage items such as work tools, cabins, and farming equipment. His museum opened in 1969 and has gone on to become a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The facility can host weddings, concerts, dances and a lot more. There’s also a small restaurant and gift shop on site.
Several historic buildings and cabins from the late 19th and early 20th century reside on the 63 acre property. The majority came from East Tennessee but there are also a couple of structures from Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia. There’s a wide range of buildings, such as a school, smokehouse, jail cells, barn, and even Mark Twain’s family cabin. There’s tens of thousands of items on the property, specifically tools and other odds and ends from the early 20th century. You could go through the museum in an hour if you want to. But if you’re really interested, honestly you could spend the whole day, especially with the restaurant and gift shop being there too.
I’ve visited the museum two or three times. The first was just after the ‘Christy’ episode “Echoes” was filmed there. The executive producer Ken Wales can be seen talking there in The Miracle of Christy special. My latest visit was 2022 and that time around I was able to take a lot of photos and have a better recollection of it. I mention that because I was probably around 8 years old during my first visit. The museum has thousands of items to view. They range from old work tools used here in Appalachia, as well as musical instruments, chairs, baskets, quilts, ceramics and even arrowheads. That only scratches the surface because there’s just too much to name. If I did, I’d probably have to write a book. It’s a bit overwhelming.
Don’t expect the buildings to have a fragrant aroma. To be clear these items are old tools and artifacts, so that’s normal and to be expected. I’m familiar with some of the items and have used some that my grandfather had. I believe if you’ve grown up in the city or haven’t lived in southern Appalachia you would find these items fascinating. Especially if you have an interest in work tools and the era where people made their own clothing, and used outhouses instead of modern plumbing. A time of the horse and plow instead of grocery stores. A time of lamps instead of electricity. And a time when society wasn’t distracted by meaningless information on social media.
I do want to express my disappointment with the Christy portion of the museum. Sure there’s not many Christy items, but I’m not too disappointed by that. To be honest I was sad to see it in an un-labeled small building, essentially cast off to the side. Upon appearance, I was wondering if the building was off limits to visitors. The show was filmed there for an episode for CBS, and has been seen by millions, so I thought it would be held in a higher regard.
As I previously said, old items do cast off an old smell but this was more than that. It was a severe smell of mold and mildew. So much so that I could barely breathe. Only my family and I were there and they only entered for a few seconds before leaving. I toughed it out for a few minutes for a better look and took several photos. Artifacts from the show range from books, writing slates, the children’s drawings, lamps and more.
Like I said, this visit was in 2022, so hopefully the exhibit will be moved into a proper building or at the very least be renovated. Despite all of this, I still think it’s worth a visit for Christy fans. If the exhibit were to cease to exist, just remember it’s the location where the “Echoes” episode was filmed. By looking at the tools and cabins it gives you an idea of what the era of Christy looked like in east Tennessee.
You can view some of the exhibit items on the “On Location” page.
Visit https://www.museumofappalachia.org/ for more details on the museum.
