Historic Granville opens the 2023 Season with "Steamboat Days in Granville" for a year-long celebration. The year long theme is titled “ Looking Back: Steamboat Days in Granville. The town located on the Cumberland River has a rich heritage as a steamboat town of the 1800s and early 1900s. The town had three riverboat landings with three warehouses. Historic Granville has a new riverboat mural painted on the side of the Whistle Stop Saloon which was an active business during the steamboat days of yesteryear.
Granville has created a unique steamboat exhibit in the Granville Museum Exhibition Center which tells the history of the steamboat, as well as Granville Steamboat story. The Historic Sutton Homestead will feature “Growing Up on the Cumberland” with the home decorated in a unique way to tell the story of times past. The Antique Car Museum will feature “The Cumberland River: Highway of the Past” with a new automobile exhibit. Tennessee Quilt & Textile Museum will feature historic Granville quilts made during this time period.
Historic Granville volunteers and staff has planned great events to occur during the entire year. On March 11th a Ladies Fashion Show Luncheon will be featured. During the month of April there will be a Spring Artisan's Showcase with live demonstrations by artisans Wednesday thru Saturday of each week. On April 14th & 15th Granville will celebrate Mayberry - I Love Lucy Days with professional impersonators as well as Dixie Griffith, daughter of Andy Griffith, performing. The event will feature two nights of Mayberry Dinner Theater and an outdoor drive-in theater featuring the new "Mayberry Man" movie. The event will feature steamboat storytelling entitled “Humor and Danger on the River”. This event will also mark the 15th Anniversary of Sutton General Store and Sutton Ole Time Music Hour Bluegrass Dinner Show.
On May 6th the Cornbread & Moonshine Festival will host 12 distillers from the Tennessee Whiskey Trail Guild and will feature the Grand Opening of the World's Largest Whiskey Decanter Museum. The Cornbread Festival will feature a Cornbread Cook-Off with a competition for adults and youth. Our special guest for 2023 will be an Elvis Tribute Artist, Wayne Euliss performing two concerts. Always a favorite in Granville, there will be performances on both days of the Outdoor Mayberry Dinner Theater. Steamboat Storytelling will feature “Nightlife During Steamboat Travel”.
The 25th Annual Heritage Day is scheduled for May 27th and the theme of this year's event is “Steamboat Folklore: Hear the Steamboat Whistle” featuring Antique Car & Tractor Show, Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Festival and much more.
For more information about our upcoming events, see our website, Facebook or Instagram pages or call 931-653-4151.
Granville's new Steamboat Mural is painted on the side of the Whistle Stop Saloon and provides a greeting for our guests. A platform makes this a great family photo spot.