Guntersville Museum: Preserving Local History

The Guntersville Museum, located in the heart of Guntersville, Alabama, offers a captivating journey through the region's past [9, 7]. The museum is housed in the historic rock Armory, constructed in 1936 under President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration [3, 15]. Originally a military armory for Company E, 167th Infantry Division, the building itself is a piece of history, built from local rough limestone in a distinctive castle-like architecture and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places [3, 6, 15]. Inside, visitors can explore a diverse collection of exhibits [9]. An impressive Native American exhibit displays artifacts dating back to the Paleo-Indian era [3, 10]. Exhibits also illustrate the activities during the construction of the Guntersville Dam, which created almost a thousand miles of mountain-lakes shoreline [3]. The museum also features a permanent collection of work by nationally-acclaimed local artist Frank Nelson, and a display of mostly native birds collected and mounted by Bessie Rayburn Samuel in the 1920s [3]. The museum not only preserves the past but also serves as a cornerstone of the city's cultural district, adjacent to the Guntersville Public Library and overlooking the Whole Backstage Community Theatre [10, 15].