CUSTOM HOUSE MUSEUM, CLARKSVILLE, TN.

On a ride through town we saw this beautiful building. It is the old Custom House and guess what? It is now a museum and cultural centers. So, yesterday we visited.


This gorgeous old chest with hand carved handles is part of their permanent collection.


Also part of the permanent collection this delightful painting. I could look at it all day.


Wasn’t this bathing “costume” the cat’s pajamas in its day?


An old cotton bale wheelbarrow.


A horse-drawn hearse.


I liked the fancy effect of this push cart fire wagon. Kind of reminded me of a Cinderella carriage.


The museum hosts special exhibits, one of which was a raw wood-carver.


Another exhibit, a whole collection of resin birds frozen in motion. As beautiful as they are, there is something about them that just doesn’t move me like paintings and photos of birds.

I like the fact they help identify birds you see from your window.


My favorite exhibit is entitled Women Painting Women. It will be here through May if you are in the area.


By Gwendolyn Rodriguez. Perfectly sweet.


Easy Ride by Sharon R. Shaver.


This wasn’t from the exhibit, but a beauty of a poster in the Children’s section of the Museum which has toys and a slew of model trains on display.


One room was dedicated to sport. It all started with Olympian Wilma Rudolph, a Clarksville resident that brought home three gold medals in 1960. They’ve named a street after her as well. Wilma Rudolph Blvd.


Wilma helped build relationships between the black and white community in Clarksville. There is a tinge of sadness to that fact.


Having lived through the 1960′s in the very liberal state of California, I’m still stunned. Not that my community was without prejudice, but the south really retained its divisions in  petty ways, we just never heard about them. I admire the curator’s honesty and hope it helps some.

In the afternoon, I had a massage to help alleviate my neck problems and later we had dinner at the VFW Post where we are staying. Out my  window this morning , it is looking like a wet and rainy day here in Clarksville.