LIFE LIST UPDATE – No. 841: Visit the Hank Williams Museum in Georgiana

Hank Williams Sr. Boyhood Home & Museum

Country music legend Hank Williams is arguably Alabama’s most famous native, and his boyhood home is located in Georgiana, a small town in Butler County, Ala. His boyhood home now houses the Hank Williams Sr. Boyhood Home & Museum, a place that I’ve wanted to visit for years. I added a trip to this museum to my “life list” a couple of years ago and finally took the time to visit it on Tuesday of last week.

Williams lived in Georgiana between the ages of seven and 11 and moved into the single-story, wood frame house located at 127 Rose St. in 1931. A year later, Hank’s mother, Lillie Williams, bought Hank his first guitar for $3.50, and it’s said that he practiced playing the instrument while sitting on an old car seat beneath the house. The family moved to Greenville in 1934.

Today, Hank’s boyhood home serves as a fine hometown museum, and the museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for students. Children under six get in free. The museum is closed on Sundays.

During my visit to the museum Tuesday of last week, museum employee Margaret Gaston gave my son and I the grand tour and joking told us that the museum contained exhibits and Hank Williams memorabilia “in every room of the house except for the restroom.” The museum does contain an impressive collection of all things Hank Williams, including guitars, clothing and hats belonging to Williams, concert posters, dozens of old photographs, paintings, original Williams albums and records, and framed newspaper stories and magazines featuring Williams. Also on display are several vintage radios, an old jukebox, Hank-themed quilts, model cars, statues of Hank, and a couple of cool, wooden Indians.

The museum grounds also include “Thigpen’s Log Cabin,” an old roadhouse that was originally located on Old U.S. Highway 31, about one mile north of Georgiana. The City of Georgiana moved the structure to the museum property a number of years ago and has restored it. Many of Hank’s earliest performances were held in the building.

In addition, there are also a number of other interesting things to check out that are just a short walk from the museum. Across the street you’ll find the Hank Williams Sr. Fan Club House and in a yard next door there’s an old train caboose that’s been painted red, white and blue and bears the words “GEORGIANA, ALABAMA – Home of Hank Williams.”

Also, just a short walk from the museum is the Ga-Ana Theatre, which is located at 602 East Railroad Ave. The theatre opened in 1939 and eight months later, Williams, then age 16, and his band, The Drifting Cowboys, performed at the theatre. The theatre closed in 1959, but reopened in 1999 after an extensive restoration project.

In the end, how many of you have been to the Hank Williams museum in Georgiana? What did you think about it? What was your favorite exhibit? Let us know in the comments section below.

(For more information about the Hank Williams Sr. Boyhood Home & Museum, visit www.hankmuseum.com.)