Cookeville History Museum
Open Tuesday – Saturday
10:00 am till 4:00 pm
Free Admission
About
Cookeville History Museum
The museum houses a self-paced, permanent exhibit on the history of this community, including a timeline around the building that begins with the first people to the area and ends with what is happening today. The front gallery is dedicated to local history exhibits, traveling exhibits and collection displays. We are part of the City of Cookeville’s Department of Leisure Services and Public Facilities, Historical Arts Division. Visit the Cookeville History Museum and let us share our story with you.
Current Exhibit
What Is Happening At The Museum
How will YOU #FindYourStoryInCookeville this weekend? Be sure to stop by to see the STUNNING new mural by Kts Art and Design at the Cookeville History Museum!
🍩💡FUN FACT FRIDAY💡🍩
Did Someone Say DONUTS?! Edition
In honor of National Donut Day (first Friday of June), here is a fabulous donut recipe! If you are looking for that elusive, pillow-soft, melt-in-your-mouth, bakery style donut, you want yeast-raised brioche. By using a brioche base (which means adding a generous amount of butter and eggs), the dough becomes incredibly rich, light and airy. Here is the blueprint for the ultimate homemade donut:
The Ultimate Glazed Brioche Donuts
📋 Ingredients
For the Dough:
Bread flour: 3½ cups (Provides the structure needed for a good rise)
Active dry yeast: 1 packet (2¼ tsp)
Whole milk: ¾ cup (Warm, about 105°F)
Granulated sugar: ⅓ cup
Eggs: 2 large (Room temperature)
Unsalted butter: 6 tbsp (Softened, cut into cubes)
Salt: 1 tsp
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Oil: About 1 quart for frying (Canola, vegetable, or peanut oil work best)
For the Classic Glaze:
Powdered sugar: 2 cups
Whole milk or heavy cream: 4–5 tbsp
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Pinch of salt (Balances the intense sweetness)
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Activate the Yeast
In your stand mixer bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast and a pinch of the sugar. Let it sit for about 5–10 minutes until it becomes frothy.
2. Mix the Dough
Add the remaining sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and about 2 cups of the flour. Use the dough hook attachment on low speed until combined. Gradually add the remaining flour.
3. Incorporate the Butter
With the mixer running on medium-low, add the softened butter one cube at a time. Wait until each cube is absorbed before adding the next. Once all the butter is in, let the mixer knead the dough for about 8–10 minutes. It should be smooth, elastic and slightly sticky.
4. The First Rise
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm spot for 1½ to 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
Pro Tip: For maximum flavor development and an easier dough to roll out, let it rise in the fridge overnight instead!
5. Shape the Donuts
Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ½-inch thickness. Cut out your donuts using a donut cutter (or a large biscuit cutter and a pastry tip for the center hole). Place them on individual squares of parchment paper (this makes transferring them to the oil so much easier). Cover and let rise again for 45 minutes.
6. The Fry
Heat your oil in a heavy pot to 350°F.
Carefully drop 2–3 donuts in at a time (lower them in using the parchment paper, then gently peel the paper off with tongs). Fry for about 60–90 seconds per side until golden brown. Drain on a wire rack.
7. Glaze & Serve
Whisk your glaze ingredients together in a shallow bowl. While the donuts are still warm (but not scalding), dip each side into the glaze. Let the excess drip off onto the wire rack.
Golden Rules for Donut Success
Watch the Oil Temp: If your oil is too hot, the outside burns before the inside cooks. If it's too cold, the dough absorbs the oil like a sponge and gets greasy. Use a thermometer!
Don't Waste the Holes: Fry the donut holes separately! They only take about 30 seconds per side and make the perfect chef's snack while you work.
Flavor Twists: Want to upgrade? Swap the vanilla glaze for a maple glaze, or toss the warm donuts directly into cinnamon sugar.
Did Someone Say DONUTS?! Edition
In honor of National Donut Day (first Friday of June), here is a fabulous donut recipe! If you are looking for that elusive, pillow-soft, melt-in-your-mouth, bakery style donut, you want yeast-raised brioche. By using a brioche base (which means adding a generous amount of butter and eggs), the dough becomes incredibly rich, light and airy. Here is the blueprint for the ultimate homemade donut:
The Ultimate Glazed Brioche Donuts
📋 Ingredients
For the Dough:
Bread flour: 3½ cups (Provides the structure needed for a good rise)
Active dry yeast: 1 packet (2¼ tsp)
Whole milk: ¾ cup (Warm, about 105°F)
Granulated sugar: ⅓ cup
Eggs: 2 large (Room temperature)
Unsalted butter: 6 tbsp (Softened, cut into cubes)
Salt: 1 tsp
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Oil: About 1 quart for frying (Canola, vegetable, or peanut oil work best)
For the Classic Glaze:
Powdered sugar: 2 cups
Whole milk or heavy cream: 4–5 tbsp
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Pinch of salt (Balances the intense sweetness)
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Activate the Yeast
In your stand mixer bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast and a pinch of the sugar. Let it sit for about 5–10 minutes until it becomes frothy.
2. Mix the Dough
Add the remaining sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and about 2 cups of the flour. Use the dough hook attachment on low speed until combined. Gradually add the remaining flour.
3. Incorporate the Butter
With the mixer running on medium-low, add the softened butter one cube at a time. Wait until each cube is absorbed before adding the next. Once all the butter is in, let the mixer knead the dough for about 8–10 minutes. It should be smooth, elastic and slightly sticky.
4. The First Rise
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm spot for 1½ to 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
Pro Tip: For maximum flavor development and an easier dough to roll out, let it rise in the fridge overnight instead!
5. Shape the Donuts
Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ½-inch thickness. Cut out your donuts using a donut cutter (or a large biscuit cutter and a pastry tip for the center hole). Place them on individual squares of parchment paper (this makes transferring them to the oil so much easier). Cover and let rise again for 45 minutes.
6. The Fry
Heat your oil in a heavy pot to 350°F.
Carefully drop 2–3 donuts in at a time (lower them in using the parchment paper, then gently peel the paper off with tongs). Fry for about 60–90 seconds per side until golden brown. Drain on a wire rack.
7. Glaze & Serve
Whisk your glaze ingredients together in a shallow bowl. While the donuts are still warm (but not scalding), dip each side into the glaze. Let the excess drip off onto the wire rack.
Golden Rules for Donut Success
Watch the Oil Temp: If your oil is too hot, the outside burns before the inside cooks. If it's too cold, the dough absorbs the oil like a sponge and gets greasy. Use a thermometer!
Don't Waste the Holes: Fry the donut holes separately! They only take about 30 seconds per side and make the perfect chef's snack while you work.
Flavor Twists: Want to upgrade? Swap the vanilla glaze for a maple glaze, or toss the warm donuts directly into cinnamon sugar.
Discover the stories behind Cookeville's vibrant murals during our June History Hike, Walls of Wonder!
Presented by Cookeville Leisure Services and Cookeville History Museums, and sponsored by The Outdoor Experience, this self-guided adventure will lead you through downtown as you uncover colorful public art, learn about the talented artists behind each mural, and explore the history woven into our city's walls.
-Start at either the Cookeville Depot Museum or Cookeville History Museum
-Saturday, June 13
-Anytime between 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM
Complete the hike and return your guide for a chance to win a prize bag sponsored by The Outdoor Experience! Stop and explore downtown shops, enjoy a local meal, and see Cookeville through a new lens as you discover the stories painted across our city walls.
#CookevilleLeisureServices #CookevilleHistoryMuseums #HistoryHike #WallsOfWonder #DowntownCookeville
Presented by Cookeville Leisure Services and Cookeville History Museums, and sponsored by The Outdoor Experience, this self-guided adventure will lead you through downtown as you uncover colorful public art, learn about the talented artists behind each mural, and explore the history woven into our city's walls.
-Start at either the Cookeville Depot Museum or Cookeville History Museum
-Saturday, June 13
-Anytime between 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM
Complete the hike and return your guide for a chance to win a prize bag sponsored by The Outdoor Experience! Stop and explore downtown shops, enjoy a local meal, and see Cookeville through a new lens as you discover the stories painted across our city walls.
#CookevilleLeisureServices #CookevilleHistoryMuseums #HistoryHike #WallsOfWonder #DowntownCookeville
💡FUN FACT FRIDAY💡
(Controversial Southern Foods Edition)
•Cornbread once divided the South: In different Southern regions, traditional cornbread was made with or without sugar—and many families still fiercely defend their version today. Recipes reveal regional identities that go back generations.
•Chitterlings (Chitlins): No food in the South is as polarizing as chitterlings—the small intestines of pigs, usually boiled and fried to eat with hot sauce or vinegar.
•Boiled Peanuts: If you pull up to a roadside stand in the deep South, you will likely find a massive metal pot full of peanuts boiling in heavily salted, seasoned water. To some, they are a warm, salty, addictive snack with a texture similar to a cooked bean. To others, the concept of a "soggy" peanut can be incredibly off-putting.
•Kool-Aid Pickles ("Koolickles"): A relatively recent but widespread culinary phenomenon, particularly in the Mississippi Delta, involves taking standard dill pickle spears, cutting them and soaking them in a strong mixture of sugary Kool-Aid (usually cherry or tropical punch). A jarring clash of flavor profiles, the result is a bright red pickle that tastes intensely sweet, sour and salty all at once.
Be sure to check out our current exhibit: Recipes Remembered: Preserving History One Dish at a Time, Tuesday - Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, free admission.
AND, DON'T WASH YOUR CAST IRON SKILLET!!! 🍳
(Controversial Southern Foods Edition)
•Cornbread once divided the South: In different Southern regions, traditional cornbread was made with or without sugar—and many families still fiercely defend their version today. Recipes reveal regional identities that go back generations.
•Chitterlings (Chitlins): No food in the South is as polarizing as chitterlings—the small intestines of pigs, usually boiled and fried to eat with hot sauce or vinegar.
•Boiled Peanuts: If you pull up to a roadside stand in the deep South, you will likely find a massive metal pot full of peanuts boiling in heavily salted, seasoned water. To some, they are a warm, salty, addictive snack with a texture similar to a cooked bean. To others, the concept of a "soggy" peanut can be incredibly off-putting.
•Kool-Aid Pickles ("Koolickles"): A relatively recent but widespread culinary phenomenon, particularly in the Mississippi Delta, involves taking standard dill pickle spears, cutting them and soaking them in a strong mixture of sugary Kool-Aid (usually cherry or tropical punch). A jarring clash of flavor profiles, the result is a bright red pickle that tastes intensely sweet, sour and salty all at once.
Be sure to check out our current exhibit: Recipes Remembered: Preserving History One Dish at a Time, Tuesday - Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, free admission.
AND, DON'T WASH YOUR CAST IRON SKILLET!!! 🍳
Local Pride Alert!
Employees in the Leisure Services Department at the Cookeville History Museum are earning statewide recognition after receiving an Award of Excellence from the Tennessee Association of Museums for their standout temporary exhibit, “Appalachian Oddities.” Thank you Beth Thompson and Ashley Mckee for representing the Cookeville History Museum so well! (pictured).
This imaginative exhibit brought the Upper Cumberland’s quirky, mysterious, and lesser-known stories to life through a creative blend of folklore, artifacts, and community storytelling—captivating visitors and celebrating the region’s rich cultural heritage in a whole new way.
If you missed it, don’t worry—the museum continues to rotate fresh, engaging exhibits that highlight local history in unexpected ways.
- Visit the Cookeville History Museum
40 E. Broad Street | Tuesday–Saturday | 10 AM–4 PM | Free Admission
Employees in the Leisure Services Department at the Cookeville History Museum are earning statewide recognition after receiving an Award of Excellence from the Tennessee Association of Museums for their standout temporary exhibit, “Appalachian Oddities.” Thank you Beth Thompson and Ashley Mckee for representing the Cookeville History Museum so well! (pictured).
This imaginative exhibit brought the Upper Cumberland’s quirky, mysterious, and lesser-known stories to life through a creative blend of folklore, artifacts, and community storytelling—captivating visitors and celebrating the region’s rich cultural heritage in a whole new way.
If you missed it, don’t worry—the museum continues to rotate fresh, engaging exhibits that highlight local history in unexpected ways.
- Visit the Cookeville History Museum
40 E. Broad Street | Tuesday–Saturday | 10 AM–4 PM | Free Admission
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Cookeville Depot Museum
116 W. Broad Street
Cookeville, TN 38501
Tuesday – Saturday
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
