Located in the Dallas Historic District -- a collection of 19th and early 20th century buildings that tell the story of Piedmont village life -- the Museum is housed in a restored 44-room Greek Revival-style hotel (1852).
The Museum holds 5,000 objects, 20,000 documents, and more than 400,000 photos documenting the history of Gaston Country from the 1500s through the present. Textiles, medicine, household and popular culture items form a large portion of the collection.
The museum houses two floors of Victorian furnishings and changing exhibits focusing on local history and/or art.
Adjacent is the Daniel Stowe Carriage House, where various types of 19th- and early 20th-century horse-drawn vehicles are displayed. Of note is the permanent Carolinas Textile Exhibit, showing the cotton mills and the lives that revolved around the area’s primary commodity from the late 1800’s to mid-1900’s. On display is one of Thomas A. Edison's original electric generators.