Since 1986, the Fayetteville- Lincoln County Museum Association has been fulfilling its mission to preserve local history by bridging the past and present to the future. It began when William R. Carter and his family donated the Borden Milk Plant building to the association. With the help of numerous volunteers, extensive renovations and rehabilitation were completed and the museum opened to the community.

Built in 1927, the Borden Milk Plant served Lincoln County until the company closed operation in Middle Tennessee on Dec. 15, 1967. At its height of operations, the plant employed 75 local people and purchased milk from more than 1,200 farmers in Lincoln and adjoining counties. Plans are underway to celebrate the 100 years the building has been a part of Lincoln County’s landscape.

“The building will be 100 years old in June of 2027,” said James Patterson, FLC Museum Association president. “We are having a Tennessee historical marker made to tell the story of the museum.”

Patterson said he would like to see a larger dairy industry display at the museum. “It was such a huge part of Lincoln County’s agriculture business. Although there are no dairy farms left you can still see the impact around the county with all the old milk barns,” he said. “In a 1959 brochure on Jersey cows in Lincoln County, it said ‘there were 2,500 farmers selling milk in the county.’ If anyone has equipment or specific dairy farm signage or items, let me know.”

The museum association is also searching for a Serbin sewing chair. Women who worked at the Serbin manufacturing plant in Fayetteville sat in the chairs each day as they made dresses and other fashions from 1949 until the company closed in 1991.

The museum board recently elected Patterson as president after John Woodall stepped down having served for almost four years. Woodall, along with Sandy Law, Dean Cornelius and Bob Stidfole serve on the advisory board. Three new board members — John Penney, Debbie Yorba and Gina Minnis — have been added to the board. Current board members include James Patterson, president, John Woodall, advisor, Mark Mitchell, treasurer, Eugene Ham, Jim Hannah, Sandy Law, Heather McCormick, events manager, Dean Cornelius, Farris Beasley, John Penney, Amelia Webb, secretary, LaGay Horton, Debbie Yorba, Gina Minnis, and Bob Stidfole, advisor.

Woodall is credited for securing a grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission, which was used to replace a portion of the museum roof. Plans are to apply for another grant to complete the roof replacement. Woodall also applied for a $20,000 grant from TN250 facilitated through the Tennessee State Museum for the United States semiquincentennial to inventory the contents of the museum. The museum received $9,000. “An inventory has never been done,” Woodall said. It will be an arduous undertaking. The grant funds will be used to purchase software, printers, bar code readers, etc. specific for inventory. He said he’s doesn’t know how long it will take to complete the inventory since the inventory continues to grow.

Recent donations to the museum are from the Barnes, Childress and Patterson farms and information from the Petersburg Lion’s Club about when the Presbyterian and Methodist churches meeting in a union meeting house in the 1800s. The arrangement allowed both congregations to share the space for their worship services.

In celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States’s Declaration of Independence on July 4, the museum ordered 12 different Revolutionary flag sets that are hanging in the museum. The Joseph Greer Chapter, Tennessee Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) has donated 3”x5” stick flags to be handed out to everyone visiting the museum. The museum also has on loan the Joseph Greer rocking chair.

The Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum & Event Center is the only public location housing artifacts from our community’s history. Located at 521 Main Avenue South, Fayetteville, the museum is operated entirely by volunteers and its operating budget is made possible solely through donations and gifts.

The event center is available for rentals, such as weddings, parties, reunions, showers and more. The facility features a stage, restroom and a catering area. Board members said the event center is “heavily booked.” Contact the facilities manager Heather McCormick at mccormickh82@ yahoo.com.

“We can always use volunteers to be hosts,” Patterson said. “It’s really simple since it is a self-guided tour.” The museum is open from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. For information or to book a tour, call 931-438-0339.