NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Zach Kinslow’s passion for history led him to Dickson and the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum.
But before Kinslow was hired as the museum’s new site manager in December, his enthusiasm for yesteryear, which started at a young age, intensified in recent years while working at the President James K. Polk Home and Museum in Columbia.
Kinslow’s care for antiquities he developed while leading tours and speaking about Polk’s home from 2015 to 2019 became evident in recent weeks – he found the family of Clement Railroad Hotel Museum visitors from 100 years ago.
Kinslow was handling the Dickson museum’s former hotel guest book for “conservation purposes.” The guest book is currently displayed for visitors to the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum, which operated as a hotel from 1913 to 1954 and is the birthplace of former state Gov. Frank G. Clement.
He said about every six months, pages in older books need to be turned “to preserve the pages from the light and ink.” While doing so, Kinslow of course glanced at years worth of visitors from decades ago.