Home: One Family, 200 Years of History

In 1859, David Droke built a farmhouse in Piney Flats, Tennessee as part of his carpentry apprenticeship. From that time onward, the house and its history have been passed down from generation to generation of Droke children who have lived in the house, worked the land, and remembered and added to the story of their family. 

This exhibit traces the last two hundred years of Appalachia and America through the story of one family and the material culture they collected over two centuries—from the Civil War to the Great Depression and beyond. This house is our history— it’s American history, regional history, and family history but it’s more than that. It’s home.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.