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   In the early 1900’s during late evenings and early mornings, there was more than fog rising from these hills. Many stories are told of Jackson County producing old-fashioned corn whiskey by the light of the moon, thus known as moonshine. Historic Granville has been telling this story in the Whistle Stop Saloon since 2013. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail partners with Historic Granville to showcase the distilleries on the Tennessee Whiskey Trail at the Cornbread and Moonshine Festival on the first Saturday in May.

 

   It seemed a logical expansion to our existing history to accept the donation of 2,000 whiskey decanters from Betty and Charles Barrett of Watertown, TN. The Barrett’s collected Jim Beam decanters for over thirty years. Jim Beam Distillery began filling their whiskey into ornamental bottles in 1955 with the creation of a bowling pin and a porcelain ash tray. Because of the popularity, the decanters were produced in fifteen categories: Wheels, Clubs and Conventions, Casino, Centennial, Organizations Customer, Executive, Foreign, People, Opera, Political, Regal China, Sports, States, Trophy, Glass and the Collectors’ Edition.  You will find decanters from each category in Granville Whiskey Decanter Museum.  The company later purchased Regal China Company and manufactured the decanters till the 1990’s. The Granville Whiskey Decanter Museum opened in May 2021.

 

   Through Charles Barrett’s friendship with Gussie and Joe Miller of Cookeville, they donated their 3,000 piece decanter collection to Granville.  The Millers’ Naval career took them all over the world where they were always in search of a rare decanter. Their collection includes Ski Country decanters known more as works of art than containers to hold alcohol, Ezra Brooks, Lewis and Clark, the entire Wild Turkey collection, and more. The Elvis Presley collection depicting the phases of the career of “The King” produced by McCormick is a rare and treasured part of the Miller collection. Historic Granville built an addition to the decanter museum to house the Miller collection. The addition opened in May 2023 making Granville home to the “World’s Largest Limited Edition" Decanter Museum with a collection of approximately 5,000 decanters.