Brady Jefcoat Photography courtesy of Brady C. Jefcoat Museum

Brady Jefcoat never met a washing machine he didn’t like.

Or an iron. Or a butter churn. Or a music box. Or a … well, you get the idea.

During much of his adult life, Jefcoat collected anything and everything that struck his fancy, from the historical (arrowheads, war bond posters, vintage newspapers) to the hysterical (a dog-powered washing machine). From phones to phonographs, from music boxes to jukeboxes, from antique beds to antique bedpans. And it’s all on display — every single item, all 17,000-plus of them — at the Brady C. Jefcoat Museum of Americana in Murfreesboro.

There’s so much to see, in fact, that the museum is housed in the old Murfreesboro High School, a three-story building with displays in all the classrooms and even the hallways.

Museum Director Colon Ballance knows Jefcoat’s more than 17,000-piece collection — including an entire room devoted to music — better than anyone. He’s happy to show repeat visitors parts of the museum they might’ve missed. photograph by Chris Rogers

“Every room is full,” says Museum Director Colon Ballance. “People who have been here before will come back and say, ‘I don’t remember seeing this last time,’ and I tell them, ‘Well, it was here.’ People come two or three times and still can’t see it all.”

Jefcoat, who lived in Raleigh until his death in 2013, began collecting in earnest in the early 1970s, after the death of his beloved wife, Lillian. They’d been together since they were high school sweethearts in the 1930s, and he needed a hobby to help get his mind off his grief. Ironically, Lillian probably would’ve balked at the historical hodge-podge her husband was acquiring. “She didn’t like him bringing old stuff into the house,” Ballance says.

Brady C. Jefcoat Museum of Americana fills the hallways and old classrooms of what once was the Murfeesboro High School. photograph by Chris Rogers

Nonetheless, Jefcoat collected obsessively, frequenting estate sales, yard sales, and auctions. Almost every Saturday, you’d find him at the flea market at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, picking through items that most folks wouldn’t even notice, much less buy.

Jefcoat’s collection spread through his house like kudzu, overrunning the basement, the main floor, the garage, and several barns on his property. As the collection continued to grow, Jefcoat began to wrestle with the same question that the anti-kudzu crowd wrestles with: How do I get rid of this? In his case, though, he wanted to preserve his ode to Americana, not destroy it.

The North Carolina Museum of History was interested — as were other museums — and auction houses proposed selling off individual pieces of the collection, but Jefcoat declined. He wanted to find a permanent home for the entire collection, and he stipulated that every item be put on display.

Extraordinary pieces are mixed into the collection at the museum, including this sofa from the set of Gone With the Wind. photograph by Chris Rogers

Enter the Murfreesboro Historical Association, which learned of Jefcoat’s quest after he delivered a commencement address at the nearby Chowan University. After years of negotiations, the association agreed to his requirements, then bought the school and renovated it to become a museum. Jefcoat was thrilled, and gradually began transferring items, piece by piece. The museum officially opened in 1997.

Your eyes won’t miss the larger-than-life statue of the RCA dog, Nipper. photograph by Chris Rogers

Jefcoat’s astonishing haul, valued at more than $5 million, includes what Ballance says are the largest collections of washing machines, irons, and butter churns in the United States. You’ll also find radios and records, toys and tools, and an entire room dedicated to hunting, fishing, and taxidermy.

While many of the items are grouped in themes — such as entertainment, agriculture, and cookware — the museum is also sprinkled with a few miscellaneous treasures, including a sofa that appeared in the classic movie Gone With the Wind, a harp made by renowned instrument-maker Sebastien Erard, and a larger-than-life replica of Nipper, the famous Radio Corporation of America, or RCA, dog. “There’s just so much here,” Ballance says. “You really have to come see it to believe it.”

Brady C. Jefcoat Museum of Americana
201 West High Street
Murfreesboro, NC 27855
(252) 398-8054
thejefcoatmuseum.org