WSM · Nashville · 1949–1952
Born Hiram Williams · Mount Olive, Alabama · 17 September 1923
Butler County, Alabama · 1923 to 1934
He was born Hiram Williams on 17 September 1923 in Mount Olive, Butler County.
He lived in this house in Georgiana from 1931 to 1934. Rufus “Tee Tot” Payne, a local street musician, taught him the blues.
The museum opened in 1993. It keeps his first guitar, his old bed from the house, records, a Victrola and a suit.
A small museum in the house: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. A festival is held here every summer.
127 Rose Street, Georgiana · Mon–Sat 10am–4pm
The Rose Street house he lived in from 1931 to 1934, with his first guitar. A festival is held here every summer.
Read before you goThe Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway runs 65 miles along Interstate 65 from Georgiana to Montgomery.
Montgomery, Alabama · 1937 to 1948
1937
His mother moved the family to Montgomery in 1937. He formed the first Drifting Cowboys around 1938.
The Hall of Fame keeps a photograph of the Drifting Cowboys at Montgomery’s WSFA radio in 1945.
In the war years he worked in the Mobile shipyards; after the war he was the biggest hillbilly star in Montgomery.
The Hank Williams statue · Commerce Street, downtown Montgomery
The statue stands about a block north of the museum; the museum’s founder helped put it up.
Free, in the open, a block north of the museum. The photograph shows it in 2010 at its earlier site in Lister Hill Plaza, opposite City Hall.
1946–1947
Fred Rose places him with MGM; Move It on Over is a hit. Fred Rose placed him with MGM Records; his first MGM release, Move It on Over, was a hit in the autumn of 1947.
WSFA · KWKH · WSM · 1937 to 1952
Face 1 of 4: WSFA, Montgomery, 1937–1948.
WSFA
Montgomery · 1937–1948
Montgomery radio: the Drifting Cowboys, a radio slot, shipyard shifts in the war years.
He formed the first Drifting Cowboys around 1938. The Hall of Fame keeps a photograph of the Drifting Cowboys at Montgomery’s WSFA radio in 1945.
The Hank Williams statue
Free, in the open, a block north of the museum. The photograph shows it in 2010 at its earlier site in Lister Hill Plaza, opposite City Hall.
The Hank Williams Museum
Monday to Friday 9am–4pm, Saturday 10am–4pm, Sunday 1pm–4pm. Adults $15, 15–17 $5, 5–14 $3. No photos, video or phones on the tour.
118 Commerce Street, Montgomery · Adults $15 · Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat 10am–4pm, Sun 1pm–4pm
His 1952 baby-blue Cadillac, the car of his final journey. No photography, video or phones on the tour.
Plan a visit
Cincinnati, 1948–1949 · Nashville, 1952
Herzog · 811 Race Street, Cincinnati
On 22 December 1948 he recorded four songs here, among them Lovesick Blues. On 30 August 1949 he came back for four more, among them I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.
Lovesick Blues went to number one in May 1949 and stayed there sixteen weeks.
Herzog calls it the last building standing where he recorded his MGM releases.
Herzog Music runs the space: Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 7pm (ring 513-918-3180 first). The photograph is Race Street.
Castle · the Tulane Hotel, Nashville
Three WSM engineers borrowed $1,000 to set up Castle in the Tulane Hotel, on the corner of Eighth Avenue North and Church Street. Hank Williams recorded at Castle, as did dozens of Opry stars.
His last session was here on 23 September 1952: Kaw-Liga, I Could Never Be Ashamed of You, Take These Chains from My Heart and Your Cheatin’ Heart.
Only I Could Never Be Ashamed of You came out before he died; the other three were released afterwards and went to number one.
Nothing of the hotel is left: stand on the corner of Church Street and Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. The picture is a Tulane Hotel menu of 1900.
116 Fifth Avenue North, Nashville · 11 June 1949
He made his Grand Ole Opry debut here on 11 June 1949 and sang six encores of Lovesick Blues.
The Opry was based at the Ryman from 1943 until 15 March 1974. The Ryman has shown the custom-tailored suit he wore on its stage.
The name on the Opry bill and on the MGM records.
Tours daily, 9am to 4pm: self-guided $25 plus tax. Shows most nights.
Nashville · Daily 9am–4pm · self-guided $25 + tax
The Opry’s home from 1943 to 1974, where he made his debut in June 1949.
Book a tourNashville · Open daily 9am–5pm
He was elected in 1961. The Hall tells his story from Mount Olive to Oak Hill.
Plan a visitWest Virginia · 31 December 1952 to 1 January 1953
31 December 1952
Charleston Municipal Auditorium
He was booked to headline here on 31 December 1952, with Hawkshaw Hawkins and others. An ice storm kept him from flying, and the show was called off.
Part of the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center: check its calendar before going. The front is on Virginia Street East.
1 January 1953
The Oak Hill memorial
He asked a family friend, Charles Carr, to drive him to Canton; on the way Carr stopped at a gas station in Oak Hill and found that he had died.
He was taken to Oak Hill Hospital and pronounced dead on 1 January 1953. He was 29.
The plaque stands across the street from the site of that gas station. Fans and townspeople paid for it and unveiled it on his birthday, 17 September 1991.
A plaque on a stone column on the library lawn. The library is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm (304-469-9890). The photograph is Main Street.
Today
The Skyline Drive-In
It now calls itself Hank’s Last Stop and keeps a framed copy of his death certificate on a wall inside. Accounts differ over where Charles Carr stopped that morning; Roadside America places it here, two miles south of Oak Hill.
A small roadside drive-in; Roadside America lists Wednesday to Sunday, 11am–10pm, and says to ring 304-469-1025 first. Not on the map.
Many of the same musicians were to play with him the next night in Canton, Ohio.
Montgomery, Alabama · January 1953
Oakwood Cemetery Annex
Hank and Audrey Williams are buried here. The annex is about a mile from the museum.
A public cemetery about a mile from the museum. Please keep to the paths.
Montgomery City Hall · 103 North Perry Street, Montgomery
His funeral was held in the auditorium at City Hall.
More than 25,000 people came to Montgomery for it.
The working city hall: see it from North Perry Street.
The Hank Williams Museum · 118 Commerce Street, Montgomery
It shows his 1952 baby-blue Cadillac, the car in which he made his final journey.
It opened on 8 February 1999 in Montgomery’s Union Station and later moved to a 6,000-square-foot building on Commerce Street.
Monday to Friday 9am–4pm, Saturday 10am–4pm, Sunday 1pm–4pm. Adults $15, 15–17 $5, 5–14 $3. No photos, video or phones on the tour.
118 Commerce Street, Montgomery · Adults $15 · Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat 10am–4pm, Sun 1pm–4pm
His 1952 baby-blue Cadillac, the car of his final journey. No photography, video or phones on the tour.
Plan a visitHis body was brought home to Montgomery from West Virginia, and thousands attended.
11 places you can visit, in Georgiana, Montgomery, Shreveport, Cincinnati, Nashville and West Virginia. Castle Studio’s hotel is gone and the Skyline Drive-In has no mapped position, so both are named but not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A small museum in the house: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. A festival is held here every summer.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Free, in the open, a block north of the museum. The photograph shows it in 2010 at its earlier site in Lister Hill Plaza, opposite City Hall.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Monday to Friday 9am–4pm, Saturday 10am–4pm, Sunday 1pm–4pm. Adults $15, 15–17 $5, 5–14 $3. No photos, video or phones on the tour.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The working city hall: see it from North Perry Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public cemetery about a mile from the museum. Please keep to the paths.
127 Rose Street, Georgiana
He was born Hiram Williams on 17 September 1923 in Mount Olive, Butler County.
A small museum in the house: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. A festival is held here every summer.
Commerce Street, downtown Montgomery
His mother moved the family to Montgomery in 1937.
Free, in the open, a block north of the museum. The photograph shows it in 2010 at its earlier site in Lister Hill Plaza, opposite City Hall.
118 Commerce Street, Montgomery
It shows his 1952 baby-blue Cadillac, the car in which he made his final journey.
Monday to Friday 9am–4pm, Saturday 10am–4pm, Sunday 1pm–4pm. Adults $15, 15–17 $5, 5–14 $3. No photos, video or phones on the tour.
103 North Perry Street, Montgomery
His funeral was held in the auditorium at City Hall.
The working city hall: see it from North Perry Street.
Oakwood Cemetery Annex, Montgomery
Hank and Audrey Williams are buried here.
A public cemetery about a mile from the museum. Please keep to the paths.
Stay
A hotel in Nashville’s old railway station, close to the Ryman, the Castle corner and the Hall of Fame.
1001 Broadway, Nashville
Nashville’s old railway terminal at 1001 Broadway, now a 125-room hotel. Not a Hank Williams address; a base for the Ryman, the Castle corner and the Hall of Fame. Pictured: the Ryman.
Check roomsGo there
The Cadillac in Montgomery, the house on Rose Street, the Ryman, the Hall of Fame, and Nashville by tour.
118 Commerce Street, Montgomery · Adults $15 · Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat 10am–4pm, Sun 1pm–4pm
His 1952 baby-blue Cadillac, the car of his final journey. No photography, video or phones on the tour.
Plan a visit127 Rose Street, Georgiana · Mon–Sat 10am–4pm
The Rose Street house he lived in from 1931 to 1934, with his first guitar. A festival is held here every summer.
Read before you goNashville · Daily 9am–4pm · self-guided $25 + tax
The Opry’s home from 1943 to 1974, where he made his debut in June 1949.
Book a tourNashville · Open daily 9am–5pm
He was elected in 1961. The Hall tells his story from Mount Olive to Oak Hill.
Plan a visitNashville
Live marketplace results for music-history tours in Nashville. Check each itinerary for the Ryman and downtown.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Shows at the Ryman and the Grand Ole Opry in the weeks ahead.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Two lives of him, and records MGM put out in his last years.
Colin Escott
The standard life, from Mount Olive to Oak Hill.
Find the bookPaul Hemphill
A shorter life by an Alabama writer.
Find the bookHank Williams · 10-inch LP, MGM E 107, 1951
His first album, from 1951.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyHank Williams · 10-inch LP, MGM E 168, 1952
Released in 1952, his last year.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyHank Williams · 78 or 45, MGM K 11416, 1953
Two songs from the last Castle session, issued in January 1953.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
13 of 13 places · 18 of 18 Moments
127 Rose Street, Georgiana
Hiram Williams is born in Mount Olive, Butler County.
In Georgiana, the street musician Rufus “Tee Tot” Payne teaches him the blues.
Commerce Street, downtown Montgomery
In Montgomery he forms the first Drifting Cowboys.
The Drifting Cowboys are photographed at Montgomery’s WSFA radio.
118 Commerce Street, Montgomery
The 1952 baby-blue Cadillac of his final journey is on show at the museum.
103 North Perry Street, Montgomery
His funeral is held in the City Hall auditorium; more than 25,000 people come to Montgomery.
Oakwood Cemetery Annex, Montgomery
He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery Annex, where Hank and Audrey Williams now lie.
705 Elvis Presley Avenue, Shreveport
He moves to Shreveport for KWKH’s Louisiana Hayride.
He is back on the Hayride, working in Shreveport until December.
811 Race Street, Cincinnati
He records Lovesick Blues at Herzog, one of four songs that day.
Back at Herzog for four more songs, among them I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.
116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Nashville
His Grand Ole Opry debut at the Ryman: six encores of Lovesick Blues.
The Grand Ole Opry fires him.
Church Street at Eighth Avenue North (now Rosa L. Parks Boulevard), downtown Nashville
His last session, at Castle: Kaw-Liga, I Could Never Be Ashamed of You, Take These Chains from My Heart and Your Cheatin’ Heart.
222 Rep. John Lewis Way South, Nashville
Fred Rose places him with MGM; Move It on Over is a hit.
He starts recording spoken narrations as Luke the Drifter; MGM barely hides that it is him.
224 Virginia Street East, Charleston, West Virginia
An ice storm keeps him from flying to Charleston; the New Year’s Eve show is called off.
Oak Hill Public Library, 611 Main Street, Oak Hill, West Virginia
On the drive to Canton, Charles Carr stops in Oak Hill and finds that he has died. He is pronounced dead at Oak Hill Hospital.
Legends Highway (WV 16), about two miles south of Oak Hill
