Hank’s house

[M]y phone was going crazy, and it wouldn’t stop. The screen showed a flash flood alert, but I dismissed it and glanced up at a small sliver of road through a rain-soaked windshield.

I was on my way to Georgiana, on a trip to see the museum inside Hank Williams’ boyhood home.

The rain poured and made for a gray day, but slacked when the car made a right turn onto Rose Street and came to a stop in front of a white house where a boy who became a superstar was raised.

The house at 127 Rose Street in Georgiana, where Hank Williams spent his boyhood.

I walked up the steps and passed Kaw-Liga, who stood by the door I opened to enter behind my mama.

When we stepped inside we were greeted by walls of pictures, memorabilia and a museum volunteer in a pink HANK hat.

She welcomed us and took our $5 admission charges before she cheerfully led us into the room she said was the best place to start our tour.

One of Hank Williams’ guitars.

It had one of Williams suits, a hat, a hatbox, a pair of the singer’s glasses, a collection of records, a stage light from the famed Louisiana Hayride, an acoustic guitar and more.

I exited the room behind the volunteer, who left us to venture about the house as we pleased and was happy to join when we had a question.

I made my way into the room we had entered, which featured a copy of a letter Williams wrote to his mother along with pictures and other memorabilia donated to the museum from various collections.

Throughout the house I noticed posters and advertisements for Williams’ New Years Day 1953 show in Ohio.

The show never happened, because the 29-year-old star died in the back seat of his car on the way to the performance.

The legacy he left on country music is still felt today, and started on a bench inside Mount Olive West Baptist Church as his mother accompanied him on the organ.

Hank’s first performance was on this bench, and accompanied by his mother on the organ, at Mount Olive West Baptist Church. The museum also has the plaque which marked his birthplace in Mount Olive.

The bench and organ are inside the museum, in a large room next to the kitchen.

There are several more rooms in the house, each filled with representations of Luke the Drifter’s legacy.

Luke the Drifter

One has a large cutout of Williams on stage, along with an agreement to perform a pair of shows for $750 with the Drifting Cowboy Band in Oklahoma City at the Marquee.

The agreement for a pair of shows at The Marquee in Oklahoma City.

The agreement was signed Oct. 5, 1952, but the shows — which were scheduled for Feb. 22, 1953 — were not to be.

The doorway to the right of where the contract hangs leads into a bedroom, which features a bed covered with a story quilt.

A bedroom in Hank Williams’ boyhood home. The quilt on the bed tells the life story of Hiram “Hank” Williams, a country music superstar.

The quilt’s patches tell Williams’ story, which includes a love of music fostered at the white house at 127 Rose Street in Georgiana.
The museum inside Williams’ boyhood home was a good first trip of 2017, and is a good visit for all who love music, Hank or history.