Tennessee State Museum is a large museum in Nashville depicting the history of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Starting from pre-colonization and going all the way to the 20th century, the museum describes the American Civil War, the Frontier, and the Age of Jackson. The museum includes an area of more than 60,000 square feet of permanent exhibits and a hall with changing exhibitions covering 10,000 feet. The total ground area of the museum is 120,000 feet spread over three floors.

The museum is situated in the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville. The museum's collection of uniforms, weapons, and battle flags from the Civil War is one of the largest in the nation.

The museum also has a military museum describing the country's military conflicts. This exhibition goes from the early battles of the Spanish-American War all the way to World War II. The museum features a museum store offering hand-made crafts, jewelry, and Tennessee memorabilia.

History
The earliest recordings of the museum go back to 1817 when a portrait artist, Ralph E. W. Earl opened a museum at the public square of Nashville. The first larger state museum opened in 1937, when the General Assembly decided that the state needed a museum to deal with various collections from the state and mementos from World War I. The museum remained at the War Memorial Building until it moved to its current location in 1981.

Today the museum displays paintings, silver, weapons, and furniture and has reproductions of a print shop, a painting gallery and a grist mill.

Exhibitions
The current exhibition as of May 2006 at the Tennessee State Museum is named Original Old Glory heads back to Tennessee and shows flags including the Old Glory flag from the 1820s. The flag, later to be known as the flag of the United States of America, was owned by a sea captain, William Driver, who brought the flag to Nashville in 1837.

Another temporary exhibition at the Tennessee State Museum is entitled Guitars, Fiddles and Coats of Many Colors: Country Music Highlights from the Tennessee State Museum and describes various artists from Nashville including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Dolly Parton. The exhibition is primarily concerned with the impact that artists from Nashville have had on the world’s musical history. On display are an original guitar from 1947 and stage outfits designed by Nathan Turk and Nudie Cohn.