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The Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association (CCHGA) reopened its museum on Jan. 14 after being forced to stow away its artifacts for more than a year in storage units.
This is the Cheatham County Museum’s fourth location. It has hopped from the basements of different local government buildings in Ashland City for the past 25 years.
The museum, which houses artifacts and family heirlooms of the county and its residents dating back centuries, is now housed in the old Family Dollar building at 835 South Main Street in Ashland City.
Most recently, the museum was situated in the basement of the Cheatham County Public Library, which CCHGA President Lisa Walker said was not much larger than the conference table we were sitting at during our interview.
According to the museum Curator, Dolly Corbett, the space is now their biggest yet at nearly 9,000 square feet. CCHGA filled four storage units full of county artifacts for 15 months in Kingston Springs before they moved it to the new location in August.
“Dolly hasn't got anything left to bring out of storage,” Walker said. “We had no room at the other building, and we were frequently rotating displays. We found stuff when we moved here we forgot we had.”
Corbett added, “That being said, I would like to expand our collection. So if people have … quilts or furniture or anything, call me or call Lisa, and we'll see … if it fits within our building and what we want to display. We'd love to have more donations.”
Walker and Corbett said one exhibit they're particularly proud of that they’ve been able to add since expanding the space is the Wall of Honor.
“It's every Cheatham County resident that has served in military service – from the Civil War to the current,” Corbett said. “They do [have to offer their photo to us] … we frame it ourselves, and then we put them up. There's almost 300 on that wall right now.”
Corbett, who was appointed over the summer to lead the museum on a volunteer basis, said she is currently working to expand the exhibits pertaining to each city in the county – particularly Kingston Springs and Pegram.
“I have a little bit on Kingston Springs – very little on Pegram – I just would like to expand more of either artifacts or photographs,” Corbett said. “When it comes to history, it's all well and good to have pictures, but I need … the stories behind it. That's what makes history fun and interesting.”
“This is the Cheatham County Museum. It should incorporate everybody,” Corbett continued, adding, “And it's sad that we don't have more from across the river, and we would truly like to have more from across the river.”
CCHGA was founded in 1994 – six years before it ever had any type of larger display open to the public. Walker said they used to take a small case with a handful of artifacts to different county buildings that was considered the “museum.”
“We had founding board members – all of them have died, except for one – and I think that if those founding board members were alive today, they would be so excited to see this,” Walker said of the 9,000 square foot museum that opened earlier this month.
Apart from historical artifacts, the museum also has genealogy from families in Cheatham County, maps, Ashland City Times’ photo collections and more.
CCHGA, a non-profit organization, is planning a grand opening for the museum in March. The museum is now open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $4, unless you are a CCHGA member, a veteran, over 80-years-old or under 10-years-old then it is free.
CCHGA primarily makes its money from its annual memberships – which are $24 for individuals, $36 for families, $12 for students or $150 for lifetime. Information on the group’s monthly meetings can be found here.
The group will hold four history programming events this year. The first to be held on March 13 will center around cleaning cemeteries, including headstones. The second will be on April 10 about the history of the Marrowbone Community in Pleasant View.
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