150 Years | Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial
Attractions
Tennessee Civil War Attractions
Use the tabs above to learn more about trails, markers and other interpretive sites; battlefields, and the many Civil War-related museums and other attractions designed to help travelers understand the legacy of the war in Tennessee.
Tennessee's Civil War history is a study in contrasts: a secessionist state with staunch Union loyalties, divided cities held by both Union and Confederate troops, constant danger and hardship, and nagging uncertainty about friends, neighbors and families, about who was friend or foe.
Tennessee's Civil War tale is one of divided loyalties, crucial battles, and the wide-reaching devastation of "total war." People throughout the state were completely immersed in the economic, social, and physical effects of the conflict, subject to violence and terror, disease and malnutrition, heartbreak and loss, and military rule by both sides. The stories of the Underground Railroad and Emancipation bring out the other side of war in the African American struggle for freedom and citizenship. Many grim reminders of the war—as well as hopeful symbols of heroism and kindness—stand today as testament to how the war transformed Tennessee.
Abraham Lincoln Library & Museum
Located on the beautiful campus of Lincoln Memorial University, the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum is one of Harrogate's finest attractions. Home to one of the most diverse Lincoln and Civil War collections in the country, The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum offers something for every Abraham Lincoln enthusiast.
View many rare items such as the cane Lincoln carried on that fateful night at Ford's Theatre, two life masks, the tea set he and Mary Todd used in their home in Springfield and numerous other fascinating ...more
Region: Knoxville & Middle East
City: Harrogate, TN
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Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
Site marks the home of the 17th president, who succeeded Lincoln and oversaw Reconstruction. Contains a visitors center, Johnson's tailor shop, two homes of the president (one furnished with Johnson memorabilia) and the National Cemetery. Open ...more
Region: Northeast
City: Greeneville, TN
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Armstrong-Lockett House & W.P. Toms Memorial Gardens "Crescent Bend"
Historic 1834 house museum furnished wtih fine antiques and art. Extensive American and English silver collection (1610-1830). Terraced three-acre formal garden wtih roses, thousands of blooming flowers and five fountains overlooking the Tennessee ...more
Region: Knoxville & Middle East
City: Knoxville, TN
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Battle of Hartsville Memorial Park
17-stop self guided driving tour and Battle of Hartsville Memorial ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Hartsville, TN
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Beech River Cultural Center & Museum
Chronicles the history of Henderson County. Displays pertain to geology, native inhabitants, early settlers and wars. Reconstructed log cabin ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Lexington, TN
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Belle Meade Plantation
Once one of the largest private estates in Nashville encompassing 5,400 acres and home to five generations of the Harding-Jackson family, Belle Meade Plantation today is a 30-acre historic site 6 miles west of Nashville. Before the Civil War, Belle Meade flourished; today bullets from the Battle of Nashville scar the house, used as Confederate Gen. Chalmers' headquarters.
Known as "Queen of the Tennessee Plantations," Bell Meade was known world-wide for its thoroughbred horses.
Experience frontier life of 1819 through living history demonstrations at the Harding Cabin. Demonstrations available every Friday and Saturday April through October. Guided tour of the 1853 Greek ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Nashville, TN
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Belmont Mansion
The largest house museum in Tennessee. One of the few 19th-century homes in which the story revolves around a woman.
The 1853 home of Joseph and Adelicia Acklen, it served as headquarters for Union General David Stanley and General Thomas J. Wood. After her husband died, the remarkable Adelicia, one of the richest women in America and a shrewd business woman, secretly did business with both sides to survive.
During the war, the homes served as headquarters for Union Gen. David Stanley and Gen. Thomas J. ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Nashville, TN
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Big Black Creek Historical Society
The Big Black Creek Historical Association (BBCHA) was founded in 2006 with the express purpose to identify, preserve and promote historical sites with the communities of Denmark, Mercer, Leighton and Woodland, all small towns West of Jackson, TN.
The BBCHA meets on the last Thursday of each month at the Mercer Presbyterian Church in Mercer, TN at 7:00 p.m. You don’t need to be a member to join them as they preserve the history of these important ...more
Region: Memphis & Surrounding Areas
City: Denmark, TN
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Bills-McNeal Historic District
Some of Bolivar's oldest and most historically significant homes are found in this district. Structures include the McNeal house and the ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Bolivar, TN
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Blockade Runner, Sutlery & Civil War Museum
The Civil War Museum is dedicated to the common soldier North or South during the June 1863 Tullahoma ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Wartrace, TN
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Bradley Academy Museum & Cultural Center
Built in 1917 as a school for African Americans. Features restored classroom, Civil War exhibit and local history ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Murfreesboro, TN
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Butler Museum
This museum depicts early life in the mountains featuring Indian artifacts, Civil War artifacts and artifacts from home life. Old town of Butler up to 1948 when gates of Watauga Dam were ...more
Region: Northeast
City: Butler, TN
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Carnton Plantation
Carnton is the restored home of John and Carrie McGavock. The house once a vibrant plantation home, served as field hospital to hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers following the Battle of Franklin in 1864. The house, grounds and garden are open for tours ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Franklin, TN
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Chattanooga African American Museum/Bessie Smith Hall
The Chattanooga African American Museum was founded in 1983 to provide sources of curricula, historical references, creative works, and the media about the identity of Africans and African Americans, particularly those of Chattanooga. Civil War era exhibits include discussion of the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and ...more
Region: Chattanooga & Southeast
City: Chattanooga, TN
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Chattanooga History Center
Chattanooga's story is amazing. Learn and experience it here. Hands-on interactive exhibits and film lead you through that amazing experience.
Originally called the Chattanooga Regional History Museum, the center provides walking tours and several Civil War driving tours in addition to the exhibits in the permanent collection.
The center's extensive Civil War collection includes a mountain howitzer; Grant's headquarter's chair; dozens of muskets, projectiles and other weapons; uniforms and various accoutrement; original photographs taken by R.M. Linn and George N. Bernard; dairies and letters; and a rare map of the area made by W.F. Dorr of the United States Coastal ...more
Region: Chattanooga & Southeast
City: Chattanooga, TN
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Chattanooga Regional History Museum
The Chattanooga Regional History Museum has an extensive Civil War collection, including a mountain howitzer; Grant’s headquarter’s chair; dozens of muskets, rifles, swords, knives, pistols, and projectiles; various accoutrements; uniforms; original photographs taken by R.M. Linn and George N. Bernard; dairies and letters. Open ...more
Region: Chattanooga & Southeast
City: Chattanooga, TN
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Cold Springs School and Museum
One-room schoolhouse serves as museum of local history. Collection of books, old photographs, Civil War and Bicentennial ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Portland, TN
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Confederate Camp at Seawell
<p>During his 1864 raid on Federal positions throughout Middle Tennessee, Confederate cavalry leader Joe Wheeler camped at this site. At the turn of the century, Castle Heights Military Academy was established here, and the remaining buildings of the campus are listed in a National Register historic district. Within City Hall (the old academy’s administration building) is a museum about Lebanon and Wilson County, which contains several exhibits about the Civil War ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Lebanon, TN
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Confederate Memorial Hall (Bleak House)
Also called Bleak House, the Tuscan style antebellum mansion was built by slaves between 1854 - 1858 for its newlywed owners, Robert and Louisa Franklin Armstrong. Occupied by Confederate Generals James Longstreet and Lafayette McLaws during 1863 siege of Knoxville. Two cannon balls are still embedded in the walls. Furnished with period antiques. Museum of CSA ...more
Region: Knoxville & Middle East
City: Knoxville, TN
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Customs House Museum and Cultural Center
Visit the one of the most photographed buildings in Tennessee, the Customs House Museum! First used as a post office and customs house in 1878 to accommodate the flourishing tobacco trade, this architecturally unique structure houses both permanent and rotating ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Clarksville, TN
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