Last week Tom and I visited Little Congress Bicycle Museum.  The weather has been so stinking hot that I haven’t been willing to take long hikes during the day.  Instead, we decided to have a local museum day, hitting up two that we haven’t been to before.

Little Congress Bicycle Museum is located in the town of Cumberland Gap.  It is only one room, which always made us wonder how good it could be.  But the price of admittance is right – it’s free – so we didn’t let the size deter us.

Little Congress Bicycle Museum was developed and is run by Judge R.E. McClanahan II.  He spent 41 years collecting unique bicycles from all over the world.  He calls the museum “a monument to a machine that has influenced our country in everything from motorized flight to women’s rights.”  The museum opened in 2003 and is open long hours every day of the week.

Every inch of space is used in this tiny museum and there is a surprising and interesting variety of bikes.  Some of the bicycles on display include a 1950-51 Manark Super Deluxe (Strato Blue), a 1968 Schwinn Lemon Peeler, and a 1940 Elgin (Equipped Standard Frame).  I really liked the Schwinn Cycle Truck.  It was primarily used as a delivery bike and looked really sturdy.  There was also a quad bicycle, one of only five made.

After we had been in the museum for a little while, Judge Mac came in to talk with us.  Tom asked him how he had picked what was on display.  Judge Mac told him that he had a lot more bikes, but he tried to pick the most unique and valuable bikes to display.  After all the time and effort spent finding and restoring many of the bikes, Judge Mac wanted his collection to hold the interest of anyone.  He said people are always trying to give him old bicycles, but they have to be better than the ones he already has for him to accept them.

I made a donation to Little Congress Bicycle Museum and then Tom and I headed to the Bell County Historical Society Museum.  This museum is located in downtown Middlesboro in an old Carnegie Library building.  The museum is packed with items of local interest.  There is a large display about the meteor crater – Middlesboro is the only city in the United States built entirely in a meteor crater.  Another display about coal mining.  Another display about life in Middlesboro and Pineville.

I was in the museum two years ago and things look very much like they did then.  I’m not sure how often displays get changed, if at all.  The museum is run by a former park ranger, so she is always happy to help out anyone from the park.  There is a research library with genealogical information and old pictures of life in Bell County.

One display that caught my attention was on Coon songs.  I had never heard to this kind of song before.  It is a song written to stereotype and make fun of African-Americans (disparagingly referred to as “coons”).  These songs were very popular in the United States from 1880 to 1920.  They are said to be a precursor to Ragtime music.  I’m not sure why the Bell County Historical had a display on the songs, but the songs themselves were certainly racist and offensive.

We were at the Bell County Historical Museum at the same time as a large school camp.  The children were having a scavenger hunt and were unusually loud and boisterous.  Several children ran into me as I was looking at displays.  A crash noise brough the teacher running, but the child had just dropped his cell phone.  So many children moving around made the visit less enjoyable for me, but I’m glad the kids were having a good time.

Tom and I enjoyed our visits to the two museums and learned a few things we hadn’t known before.  It was also an opportunity to see what was available in the community.  Always a good thing to know when you are talking to visitors.