Johnny Cash Museum: Steps from Lower Broadway

The Johnny Cash Museum sits one block off Lower Broadway in a converted brick building between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, packed with the deepest Cash artifact collection in the world. If you’re bar-crawling Broadway and you want a pause from the honky tonks that still feels like Nashville, this is the move.

Bill Miller, who privately collected Cash material for decades, put it together with Johnny’s family. Folsom-era stage outfits, the actual handwritten lyrics to “Hurt,” the trial footage from San Quentin — it’s the real archive, not a tribute experience.

What you’ll find inside

• The Folsom and San Quentin exhibits — original audio, stage clothing, and behind-the-scenes footage.
• The “Hurt” gallery — Cash’s final years, the Rick Rubin sessions, and the handwritten notebook pages.
• House of Cash material — pieces from the family compound including the One Piece At A Time car panels.
• Interactive listening stations — full discography track-by-track with original liner notes.
• Patsy Cline Museum upstairs — shared building, same ticket bundles, completely separate exhibits.

Walking distance from the Broadway honky tonks

It’s a 2-minute walk from the corner of Broadway & 2nd Avenue. You’re a block north of Acme Feed & Seed and Bridgestone is a 5-minute walk west. If you’re already on 2nd Avenue at Doc Holliday’s or Big Jimmy’s, the Museum is literally up the block.

Tickets, hours & how to visit

Open daily, typically 9am–7pm with later hours in peak season. Single ticket runs around $24 adult, $19 youth; the combo ticket with Patsy Cline Museum is the smart play and adds maybe 90 minutes total. Buy ahead on weekends — the line at the door in summer routinely runs an hour. Allow 60–90 minutes to actually see the place.

Where to grab a drink before or after

You’re a stumble from Doc Holliday’s Saloon (112 2nd Ave N) and Big Jimmy’s (109 2nd Ave N) — both old-school 2nd Avenue bars with live music and tight cocktail programs. Walk south on 2nd to hit Acme Feed & Seed for a rooftop view of the river before working your way west onto Broadway proper.

Pair this with the rest of your Nashville day

If you’re building a tourist day, anchor on the Johnny Cash Museum, then walk five minutes south to Country Music Hall of Fame and ten minutes west to Ryman Auditorium. Three of the best country music institutions on the planet, all walkable. End at tonight’s lineup back on Broadway.