Museum Of The Appalachians

I figured to post this here because of all the homemade goodies I saw at this museum. I just went there a few days ago. The museum is located in Norris Tennessee.

It's filled with artifacts from the local area.
One thing that caught my eye was a troughs made from wood. These is about eight feet or so long, two foot deep, two foot wide. These troughs are made like a dugout canoe but squared up. Looked like chestnut. These troughs were used for salting and storing meat.

There was also sections of logs hollowed out and used like wood barrels to store corn.

A rock has a "peace sign" pecked into it, this was used to make pine tar. A metal bucket is filled with fat wood and then turned upside down over the grooves. The bottom is sealed up with mud and a fire is started on top of the bucket. The pine tar run out the grooves.

There is some local made hog rifles and bunches of gunsmithing tools. There is a Hacker Martin display, Hacker was a gunsmith from that area, more so Jonesboro Tenn. He made rifles and such with the forge.

There's lot but last but not least is a still made by Popcorn Sutton.

If ya get a chance to stop by check it out

 

THE Popcorn Sutton?!?

I would have loved to seen all that! I need to put this museum on my bucket list!


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That Popcorn Sutton, the still was made on sight from copper sheeting. I think Popcorn would hangout there during special events.

 

Sounds very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

 

A good book on all this is Our Southern Highlanders by Horace Kephart.

 

The Foxfire series is sorta-kinda OK. Lacks essential details. Read / scan the Foxfire series to learn that which you would like to learn about ... then find better sources of detailed information.

 

think I'll add a few odds and ends as they come to mind. About the museum there are big steel/cast iron pots. These pots were used for boiling salt water to produce salt. There are story boards telling that Lincoln ordered these pots destroyed during the civil war. These pots were repaired and used. I have to wonder if some of the union troop's hearts really wasn't in it when it came to destroying those pots being the pots were easy to repair.

There are big dough bowls made from wood, probably yellow poplar, maybe chestnut. I would call them more of a trencher than a bowl.

My kid has photos that I'll get and post.

 

Here is a link to the museum

http://www.museumofappalachia.org/museum-exhibits/