Visitors to the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum enter through the hotel's original lobby. Furnished much as it would have been from the 1920s through 1940s, the lobby has the original Hotel Halbrook registration desk and a settee from the 1920s/30s. A registration book from 1921 is on display along with the original registration call bell and room keys.

Railroading

The colorful and dynamic heritage of railroading is showcased with artifacts including an oilcan, brakewheel, whistle marker, a lantern, maps, postcards, and books. A folk art model of an engine and tender are almost miniature examples of an NC&St.L engine and Vanderbilt tender captured in a 1920s photograph in Dickson. This exhibit has been expanded to include a touch-screen panel of the Dickson railyard and downtown area, a hands-on display of a steam engine cabin, and an NC&St.L engine headlight. All Aboard!

Dickson Model Railroad Display

The Dickson Model Railroad Club has partnered with the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum to establish a permanent display of model trains, landscaping, and buildings. The display is manned by volunteer "engineers" who maintain the trains as well as both entertain and educate visitors in the art of model railroading. This exhibit is being rebuilt to include a recreation of the Dickson Railyard during the 1920s.  Interested in helping build this new and exciting model railroad exhibit? The Model Railroad Club is recruiting new members! Drop by the Museum and talk with one of the "engineers" in the exhibit.

Civil War

The triumph and tragedy of the Civil War tells the story of the USCT and the building of the railroad during the Civil War. Also on display are interpretive panels for Dickson County as well as recipes for Johnnie Cake and Union Hardtack. This exhibit now includes a touch-screen that relates Dickson County family stories and memories of the Civil War. An interpretive panel of the Irish Shanty incident in Dickson County has also been added to the exhibit.

Dickson County, Tennessee

The Dickson County Commerce exhibit has interpretive panels on several early businesses and industries. Expansion of this exhibit includes the display of a Dixie Swatter baseball bat which was used by major league teams during the 1920s and a Commodore youth bat, a 1930s  Coca Cola bottle impressed with 'Dickson Tenn.' on the bottom, and the 50-millionth shirt made by Red Kap.

The Dickson County History exhibit tells the story of the iron ore industry in the county as well as highlights each of the incorporated communities: Burns, Charlotte, Slayden, Vanleer, White Bluff, and Dickson. Interpretive panels introduce visitors to the utopian community of Ruskin as well as Promise Land, a community founded by freed blacks.

The Clement Family

The Clement family rooms are furnished to represent the early 1920s when Belle Goad and Maybelle and Robert Clement lived in the managerial suite of rooms on the first floor. Room #5, where Governor Frank Clement was born, is furnished with several pieces of furniture from the Clement family including a bed, trunk, and cradle.

Governor Clement

Governor Clement exhibit rooms, on the second floor of the Museum, trace his high school, college, and early career days, his campaigns in the 1952, 1954, and 1962 gubernatorial elections, and his many accomplishments, including peaceful desegregation of Tennessee public schools, free text books for Tennessee school children, establishment of the first department of mental health, and expansion of roads and the Interstate system through Tennessee.

For more information, contact the Museum at 615-446-0500 or by email at ClementINFO@clementrailroadmuseum.org.