Roadside Museums in Alabama Are Unique and Different

Roadside Museums in Alabama are not just attractions along the side of the highway, they are places of interest and can be very educational.

They can also be very unique and extremely interesting, and unlike larger museums, there are things there you can’t find anywhere else.

They also should not be confused with roadside attractions, which are features along the side of the highway, and it most all cases, they are the older highways.

These attractions were meant to distract motorists traveling to another destination, and in most all cases, there are numerous types of advertising attached to attract this attention.

They are not really places of education, do not house art, artifacts, or historical items, and have not real scientific history.

They should not be confused with these unique and interesting museums, and the State of Alabama has numerous different types for you and your family to visit.

The Best of the Roadside Museums in Alabama

Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery

There are several Roadside Museums in Alabama, but there are 8 that really stand out.

Here are the first four:

Hank Williams Museum
The Museum of Wonder
Mobile Carnival Museum
Mobile Medical Museum

The Hank Williams Museum

Fist on the list of the Roadside Museums in Alabama is the Hank Williams Museum, located in downtown Montgomery.

For the fans of this world-famous Alabama country music legend, this is a perfect place for you and your family to visit.

It pays tribute to both the life as well as the accomplishments of Hank Williams Sr., one of the most famous musicians to come out of Alabama.

Founded in the year 1999, it was the dream of a long-time fan of this legend, Cecil Franklin Jackson.

Visitors can see more than 30 display cases that are filled with personal artifacts that belonged to this country music legend.

Some of these artifacts include 17 suits, boots, hats, ties, as well as numerous different awards.

There are also portraits, and a horse saddle.

The portraits include 3 life sized displays of Williams that are his wife, Audrey.

You can also see his Steinway piano, his 1947 Gibson guitar, as well as the microphone and stand this legend used on his last act.

The Museum of Wonder

The Museum of Wonder is next, and is located is Seale, Alabama, along the Alabama/Georgia state line, just south-east of Columbus.

This unique museum is made up of over 10,000 marvels and oddities, and started out as a taxidermy shop in the early 1970’s.

Built by Butch Anthony, it is considered a cabinet of curiosities of numerous different odd things.

These “odd things” include art, artifacts, as well as several unique objects, such as the world’s largest gallstone and an actual footprint of bigfoot.

Mr. Anthony built a one-room login cabin that later became a workshop for his collection, and as time went on, this museum became too small for a log cabin to hold.

In the year 2014 the world’s first “drive-thru” museum was created and is very easy for your family to visit.

The Mobile Carnival Museum

Mobile Carnival Museum

Next on the list of Roadside Museums in Alabama, is Mobile Carnival Museum, which is located in the historic Berstein-Bush house.

It was established in the year 2005, by the William and Emily Hearin Mobile Carnival Museum.

It chronicles the evolution of the annual Carnival celebration, also known as the Mardi Gras, in the city of Mobile, Alabama.

This unique museum has numerous exhibits that give visitors the opportunity to view both the cultural heritage as well as the history of Mardi Gras.

There are numerous artifacts related to this unique Carnival, and they include crowns, scepters, as well as robes, that have been worn by former Mardi Gras monarchs.

It also has multiple video installations, where visitors can watch first-hand the pomp and majesty of this celebration.

Mobile Medial Museum

Next is the Mobile Medical Museum, which is located in the historic Vincent-Doan-House.

Open in 1962, it is considered to be the largest institution dedicated to telling the story of the medical history of the Gulf Coast region.

It houses more than 5,000 medical artifacts as well as documents, that are related to the local, national, and world medical history.

These artifacts include a collection that spans the past 300 years, and include more than 50 cubic feet of letters, doctors’ registers, photographs, as well as rare books.

The Second Four Roadside Museums in Alabama

Burritt on the Mountain
Berman Museum of World History
The Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama
The Commodores Museum

Burritt on the Mountain

First on this second list of Roadside Museums in Alabama, is the Burritt on the Mountain.

If you and your family want to step back in time and learn about the history of Huntsville, this is the place for you.

This site sits on 167-acres located on Round-Top Mountain, and visitors are able to revisit the lives of farmers in the area in early times.

In the year 1955, a Huntsville native, William Henry Burritt, willed his estate and mansion, known as Round-Top Mountain, to the city, for them to create this unique place, which is now a living museum.

It features the Burritt’s eclectic mansion, a historic park with restored 19^th century houses, and also features concerts, plays, and exhibits.

Berman Museum of World History

The Berman Museum of World History is next, and is located in Anniston, Alabama.

It showcases the Farley and Germaine Berman’s collection of over 6,000 pieces of art, arms, as well as armor.

It also features oil paintings, bronzes by the American sculptor Fredric Remington, as well as ancient and modern weapons, photos, and clothing.

There are two buildings that house these exhibits, and two exhibits on each floor.

The Commodores Museum in Tuskegee

The Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama

The 7^th of the best Roadside Museums in Alabama is the Iron and Steel Museum, located in McCalla, south of Birmingham, at the Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park.

This museum is a regional interpretive center that focuses on iron making in the 19^th century.

It was built in 1981, and houses an extensive collection of machines and artifacts that relate to the iron industry from the Civil War, thru the 1960’s.

It is also the site of the Walter B. Jones Center of Industrial Archeology, and visitors can also take a short walk to the Tannehill Ironworks.

The Tannehill Ironworks was a major producer of Confederate iron, before it was burned during Wilson’s Raid in 1865.

These furnaces are some of the best preserved in the entire South and are linked to the museum by a hiking trail.

The Commodores Museum

The final of the 8 best Roadside Museums in Alabama is The Commodores Museum, which is located in Tuskegee, Alabama.

It is the only museum in the United Sates that is dedicated to commemorating the musical career of the world-renowned R&B and funk pop group, led by Lionel Richie.

This unique museum currently houses a collection of memorabilia and artifacts, that cover a very broad spectrum.

It includes clothing, equipment, travel itinerates, rooming lists, as well as instruments, that were used by this famous group.

The recording and rehearsal studio in the back of the building has been left untouched, and by such, it looks much the way it did during the early 1980’s.

These unique Roadside Museums in Alabama may not be as well know or famous as some other museums, but they are very interesting and unique.

Because of this, they make great places for you and your family to visit.

References

Search | Encyclopedia of Alabama

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