Gordon Browning Museum Awarded $21,000 Grant from the Tennessee State Museum

McKENZIE (October 20) — The Carroll County Historical Society/Governor Gordon Browning Museum has received a $21,000 Capital Maintenance and Improvements grant from the state of Tennessee, as administered through the Tennessee State Museum. The grant award will be used for repairs and extensive maintenance of the 87-year-old building’s roof and for updates to the building’s electrical system.

Vickie Summers, Governor Gordon Browning Museum director said, “We are sincerely thankful for the help in making our building safer and more resilient. We are humbled in the trust given us, to wisely use these funds to enable us to indefinitely enhance our community through our historical society museum honoring Governor Browning, and to make historical information about our community available to the public at large.”

The Tennessee General Assembly’s 2025-26 Appropriations Act made $5 million in funding available “for the sole purpose of providing grants to museums with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or affiliated with a government entity for capital maintenance and improvements.”

In the grant program’s third year, it remains a highly competitive process. In total, the Tennessee State Museum received 178 applications, totaling $12,031,874 in requests. The museum has made full or partial awards to 99 museums across the state, representing 45 counties. In three years, the museum has served museums in 73 counties across the state. A complete list of 2025-26 grantees, counties and amounts is posted at TNMuseum.org/grants.

“The Tennessee Capital Improvement Grants continue to support and strengthen the infrastructure of institutions preserving our state and local history and culture,” said Ashley Howell, Tennessee State Museum executive director. “We are honored to help support the commitment of those institutions to better serve their communities and visitors through collection care and visitor accessibility these last three years. We are inspired by the dedication of their staff and volunteers. None of it would be possible, of course, without the State of Tennessee’s unwavering support for Tennessee history.”

The Capital Maintenance and Improvements grant had a minimum request amount of $5,000 and a maximum request amount of $100,000. All projects must be completed by June 30, 2026.