The state museum moved into a purpose-built modernist building at the north end of the Bicentennial Capitol Mall in 2018. The permanent exhibitions trace Tennessee from the Cherokee and Chickasaw period through the frontier, the Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, and into the present day. Strong sections on country music, the Scopes "monkey trial" of 1925, and the women's suffrage vote — Tennessee was the deciding state for the 19th Amendment.
Entry is free. The building also hosts a regular schedule of temporary exhibitions and free public lectures. Two hours is enough for the main galleries; allow a little longer if the temporary show is good.