The Swain County Heritage Museum is filled with rich history and culture of Southern Appalachia and the Great Smoky Mountains. Visit the museum today!
The Swain County Heritage Museum is a mechanism to sustain a living mountain culture and share these traditions with the traveling public. The museum is
a significant southeastern attraction and a jumping off place that will take visitors to every corner of Swain County. They may choose to learn more about a natural feature, Cherokee or Scots Irish heritage, local arts & crafts,old time farming or traditional music. This facility celebrates mountain life and educates visitors, schoolchildren and residents alike about our mountain culture and traditions. Events, displays and activities are throughout the museum to tell the local stories of mountain men and women and feature acclaimed mountaineers like
Horace Kephart, Mark Cathy, William Bartram, and other native mountain icons
(loggers, farmers, and more). The stories and traditions portrayed in the Swain County Heritage Museum will focus on the Scotch-Irish immigration and settlement
and will include: the natural history of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the Cherokee Inhabitation, the Trail of Tears, local Civil War actions, depression-era
mountain life and the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and removal of local people from the park lands. The museum’s permanent exhibits include cabins and demonstrations from each era. Programmatic activities will mirror the interpretive themes and displays and will focus on: rivers and waterways, flora and fauna, archeology, natural science, herbs and native plants, music, language, dance, blacksmithing, wagon making, moonshine making, quilting, agriculture, craft making, basket weaving,
pottery, canning, and storytelling. The goal is to preserve our mountain culture and traditions, and also share them with the visiting public.
