Q: My grandson loves to play with trains. Can you tell me about me about the train museum in our area?
A: You are referring to The Southern Museum, which is associated with the Smithsonian Institute, in downtown Kennesaw.
A volunteer working the ticket window on a recent Monday said, “Many people don’t know we’re here. They don’t know what they’re missing.”
The Southern Museum began as the Big Shanty Civil War Museum when the locomotive General arrived in 1972. The museum, located off Cherokee Street, underwent an expansion and reopened in 2003, with the Smithsonian affiliation.
“Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. The Southern Museum strives to offer programming for all ages and learning styles,” the museum’s executive director Richard Banz said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
About 42,000 guests visit the museum each year, Banz said. The largest event is in January for “Trains! Trains! Trains!,” which attracts about 4,000 visitors.
The museum is home to the General locomotive, made famous during the Great Locomotive Chase, a military raid that occurred in 1862.
It also features a Civil War collection and the Glover Machine Works, a restored early 20th-century belt-driven locomotive assembly line. The Jolley Education Center offers numerous hands-on and interactive exhibits for the entire family, according to the museum website.
When you walk in, you will find a collection of artifacts and relics from the Civil War.
There is a display featuring rifles and bugles, the cotton and logging industry in the South, and a history of railroads in Georgia and surrounding regions.
About halfway through the museum, you will find two model trains about nine feet long.
At the end of the exhibits, you find the General in a large room. The large, red train fills the room.
On this Monday, a 4-year-old boy walked up to the train and simply said, “Wow.”
The museum is open Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and on Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens (65+), $8; military and university students, $5; children, 3-17 years old, $5; and children under 2 are free.
Location: 2829 Cherokee Street in Kennesaw.
NEW TO THE AREA OR SIMPLY HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS PLACE WE CALL HOME?
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