The Ella Sharp Museum complex occupies the farm of Ella Wing Sharp, who left her estate to the city of Jackson in 1912. The original 1850s farmhouse — the Merriman-Sharp Farmhouse — has been preserved with its 19th-century furnishings, and the grounds have been built up over the years with a one-room schoolhouse, a Victorian-era log cabin, a country store, and a print shop, all relocated from elsewhere in Jackson County.
A modern museum building houses rotating exhibits on Jackson's industrial history, a small art gallery, and a children's discovery room. The 530-acre Ella Sharp Park that surrounds the museum includes a golf course, hiking trails, and a community garden. The annual Art, Beer and Wine Festival here in May has become one of the city's better-attended events.