Community initiatives, volunteer projects, and historical exhibitions can be found across the country this year as America celebrates its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Tennesseans are joining the semiquincentennial celebration as well. From small hometown gatherings to large, ticketed events, the history of our country is woven into each fiber of the festivities.

The Tennessee agricultural industry began celebrating this event last year, when Governor Bill Lee began his yearlong America 250 tour across the state and signed the Farmland Preservation Act. But if we’re going to celebrate our statehood, no one has as much information and as many artifacts about it as the Tennessee State Museum.

The new and improved Tennessee State Museum, which opened in October 2018, is free to visit and presents Tennessee history from geologic time to the present. It features a long, winding Tennessee Time Tunnel with six connecting permanent galleries: Natural History, First Peoples (13,000 BCE to 1760 CE), Forging a Nation (1760 to 1860), Civil War and Reconstruction (1860 to 1870), Change and Challenge (1870 to 1945), and Tennessee Transforms (1945 to Present).

“We were so excited to open this building in 2018, which seems like a long time ago now,” says Dr. Miranda Fraley Rhodes, assistant chief curator of the museum. “There are lots of wonderful artifacts we enjoy sharing with the public, and there’s so much history here. We certainly highlight famous Tennesseans, and then we teach others about Tennesseans who weren’t so famous as well, and the role they played in history.”

In addition to the six permanent galleries, the museum features four rotating galleries and two large temporary galleries that expand on subjects and eras and further draw from the museum’s vast collections, which are so numerous that a separate collections research and storage facility in Nashville houses the overflow. Artifacts in these galleries change quite frequently to keep the museum interesting and evolving.

To celebrate America’s 250th Birthday, the museum is featuring a Tennessee Voices, American Stories exhibit that shares stories of remarkable Tennesseans from throughout the state’s history. Inside the exhibit — on display through the end of 2026 — you can see one of Dolly Parton’s rhinestone dresses and a tribute to Tennessee astronaut Barry Wilmore, who piloted the space shuttle Atlantis, spent 286 days in space, and completed multiple assignments on the International Space Station.

You’ll also read about Sequoyah, a Cherokee who was born in Vonore, Tennessee, and developed a system for writing the Cherokee language using symbols that’s still used today. You’ll be introduced to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alex Haley, who was raised in rural Henning, Tennessee, and wrote “The Autobiography of Malcom X” in 1965 and “Roots” in 1976. You’ll also learn about Captain Le Roy Reeves of Johnson City and how he designed the TriStar Tennessee state flag. You can watch the film online at www.youtube.com/watch?=o1BtTNXt17Q.

“While the national 250th celebration basically centers around the Declaration of Independence, our 250th exhibit focuses on the founding of our government and is organized around themes from the U.S. Constitution’s preamble,” says Tranae Chatman, the museum’s curator of social history. “The section ‘We the People’ highlights Tennesseans from various backgrounds and shows the diversity of the state. The second zone, ‘A More Perfect Union,’ focuses more on civic engagement. It highlights our legislators, judicial representatives, military veterans, and activists. And the ‘Blessings of Liberty’ section highlights creative expressions. That’s where you’ll see artists like Dolly Parton, authors including Alex Haley, and creatives like Aaron Douglas.”

To complement Tennessee Voices, American Stories, museum staff have created an online 95 Counties Road Trip interactive map that highlights historic sites, parks, and experiences in every Tennessee county, supporting the museum’s mission to serve all 95 counties. Those interested can find the map on the museum’s webpage.

Spanning 137,000 square feet, the museum also offers onsite and live virtual field trips led by educators in the galleries, significantly extending its reach to school groups. There’s a large Civil War collection, a children’s gallery with staffed activities and story times, and a popular music area with interactive elements for younger visitors.

“My favorite artifact is the mastodon jawbone and the tusk,” exclaims 9-year-old Shepherd Spurgeon of Davidson County, who was visiting the museum with his parents, Monty and Molly Spurgeon, and siblings Addie, 7, and Wes, 5. “I also liked reading about Andrew Jackson and seeing some of his belongings.”

The museum’s teachings also go outside the building. The landscaped campus reflects East, Middle, and West Tennessee with regionally inspired plantings and paths, highlighting the state’s natural beauty. After walking around outside the museum, feel free to take a stroll along Nashville’s Bicentennial Mall, which literally connects to the museum’s walkways and continues to highlight the three regions of the state, bordered by the Farmer’s Market and Capitol Hill.

If you haven’t visited the Tennessee State Museum, make plans to do so. It is located at 1000 Rosa L Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208 — near the Nashville Capitol’s Bicentennial Mall greenway behind the Nashville Farmer’s Market, where parking is free. Hours are Monday: closed, Tuesday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, visit tnstatemuseum.org, see facebook.com/tnmuseum.org, or call (615) 741-2692.