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Visitors to Holly Springs will not want to miss the Marshall County Historical Museum, one of the most interesting and unusual destinations the city has to offer.
Like many sites concerned with Southern history, the museum devotes the first few exhibitions of its tour to artifacts from the Civil War era. As guests proceed to the upper floors, however, the true quirkiness of the place begins to come into focus. In one room, they find a collection of taxidermy animals indigenous to Mississippi; in the next, flapper girl clothing from the 1920s. Over here a large collection of Victorian children’s books shares floor space with an antique Victrola; while over there items made by the Native American tribes of Mississippi sit next to the first private bathtub ever owned in Holly Springs. From wall to wall, there is truly a little bit of everything: quilts, dresses, Elvis records, old advertisements, antique books and bottles, dollhouses, sports memorabilia, promotional materials from past presidential campaigns. The playful randomness of it all, coupled with the fact that everything on display was donated by local residents, has led many visitors to suggest that the place is more like an eccentric grandmother’s attic than a museum!
Presiding over this warm cabinet of curiosities is the museum’s curator, a vivacious (and recently remarried) 86-year-old Southern belle named Lois Swaney-Shipp. A truly special woman, “Miss Lois” possesses a razor-sharp wit and an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Holly Springs, which her guests find irresistible.
Adding another layer to the collection’s considerable charm is the museum building itself. Just one of several Holly Springs structures listed on the National 
Register of Historic Places, it was originally built as a girls’ dormitory for the Mississippi Synodical College during the early 20th century. That is why, unlike many modern museums, which are designed to move people in and out as quickly as possible, the Marshall County Historical Museum retains both the layout and the atmosphere of a domestic environment and gives the distinct impression that everyone is welcome to come in and stay for a while. We certainly hope you will.
The Marshall County Historical Museum is open all year except during the week before Christmas. It is located at 220 East College Avenue. Normal operating hours are from 10:00 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. Monday through Friday and from 10:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m. on Saturday. Admission is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. For more information or to arrange for a group tour, call 662-252-3669.
Get a more personalized tour of Historic Holly Springs with our audio tour. Click the link below to learn more.
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