Tennessee State Museum
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| Established | 1937 |
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| Location | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 36°09′54″N 86°46′54″W / 36.1649°N 86.7817°W |
| Type | Heritage centre |
| Website | http://www.tnmuseum.org |
Tennessee State Museum is a large museum in Nashville depicting the history of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Starting from pre-colonization and going into the 20th century, the museum interprets the Frontier, the age of President Andrew Jackson and the American Civil War. The museum includes an area of more than 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of permanent exhibits and a hall with changing exhibitions covering 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The total ground area of the museum is 120,000 feet (37,000 m) on three floors. The museum's collection of uniforms, weapons, and battle flags from the Civil War is one of the largest in the nation.
The museum is situated in the bottom floors of the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville, a building shared with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. In 2013 a state building commission was formed to commission planning for a new building to house the museum near the Bicentennial Mall State Park and the First Tennessee Park minor league baseball stadium.
The earliest record of a museum in the city date to 1817 when a portrait artist, Ralph E. W. Earl, opened a museum at the public square of Nashville. The state museum opened in 1937 in the War Memorial Building, after being authorized by the General Assembly. It decided that the state needed a museum to deal with various collections from the state and mementos from World War I. Most of the museum operations moved to the James K. Polk Building in 1981, which it shares with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
The museum displays a variety of paintings, silver, weapons, and furniture. Larger exhibits include reproductions of a historic print shop, a painting gallery, and a grist mill. The state museum features a museum store offering handmade crafts, jewelry, and Tennessee memorabilia.
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