The Museum of Appalachia in Norris is the result of many years of hard work by John Rice Irwin with the goal of creating a window. We can now peer through that window into the everyday lives of the people who settled in the Appalachian hills. With the help of my friend Gene Purcell, he has collected and relocated cabins, barns, and small outbuildings from all over the Southeast to create a small village. The buildings are filled with all the items necessary to live in an isolated area where self-reliance determined their very survival. A visitor can imagine that the inhabitants have just left for the fields or other work. The dinner tables are set for supper and there are tools set out in the blacksmith shop.

 

Here is a short slide show (39 images) taken at the Museum of Appalachia. Once the show starts, clicking the icon in the lower right corner of the viewer will give a full screen show.

 

These are millstones. There are several of them to be seen all over the museum.

This cabin belonged to Mark Twain's parents. He never lived in it, though, as they moved into another house before he was born. The interior is furnished in a manner typical of the period.

This is another homestead on the property. It has a root cellar behind it and a well. Steep stairs from the front porch access the second floor. Coming down for breakfast a couple of hours before dawn on a winter day was a bit different then.