Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History

As a prestigious Smithsonian Affiliations member, the Southern Museum is an inclusive institution devoted to history and education. The Museum provides a quality experience that fosters conversation about the strategic and economic use of railroads during and after the Civil War. We seek to inspire and enrich people of all ages and backgrounds through knowledge-sharing and open dialogue.

The Southern Museum opened in 1972 in Kennesaw, Georgia, as the Big Shanty Museum. It showcased the famous General locomotive and was dedicated to telling the story of the Great Locomotive Chase. The event, which took place on April 12, 1862, elevated the engine and Big Shanty (today the City of Kennesaw) to prominence during the Civil War.

While the General remained the main attraction, the Museum began to collect and interpret other artifacts from the Civil War period. The name was changed to the Kennesaw Civil War Museum as the scope of the Museum and the collection grew. In the mid-1990s, the Museum acquired and curated an impressive locomotive-building collection from the Glover Machine Works of Marietta, Georgia.

Beginning in 2001, a two-year renovation and enlargement project culminated in a nearly 50,000 square foot facility housing three permanent exhibits: Railroads: Lifelines of the Civil War; Glover Machine Works: Casting a New South; and The Great Locomotive Chase featuring the General locomotive.

The Museum expanded again in 2007 with the opening of the Jolley Education Center. The 8,000 square foot facility offers classroom space for programs and a dedicated area for the very young to play safely alongside older children. The Jolley Education Center also houses Georgia’s Merci Boxcar, a gift from the French people to the state following World War II.

The newest addition to the Southern Museum came in 2016 with the opening of the Railroad Education Center Library & Archives. The 8,200 square foot structure houses the Museum’s large, ever-growing collection of archival material. The documents trace the growth and operation of some of the South’s largest railroads.