Ellington's Holiday Season Runs on State Office Hours

The Tennessee Agricultural Museum's Christmas Open House is on Thursday, December 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ellington Agricultural Center is the big green space at the end of Hogan Road, and it's also a working campus for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Its holiday season follows a state employee's calendar, and a December Saturday visit can mean a locked museum door.

A Christmas Party on a Thursday

The museum's December 2026 calendar has two holiday events for the public, and both fall on weekdays.

• Christmas Open House: Thursday, December 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Free Children's Craft Kit Pickup: December 10 through December 18, during regular business hours, while supplies last

"Regular business hours" means a short window. The museum's visit page lists free admission, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's closed on weekends unless there's a special event, and it's closed on state holidays. The craft-kit window starts on a Thursday and ends on a Friday, so it covers seven pickup days: December 10 and 11, then December 14 through 18. The weekend in between doesn't count.

The 2026 event page doesn't list a program yet. The museum's 2023 listing shows what a past open house looked like. It was billed as "a free holiday celebration featuring live trees, music, ham biscuits, local vendors and more," with a model train from the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. The 2023 event was also on a Thursday, December 7, so the weekday tradition goes back at least that far.

What the Museum Holds Between Events

The open house is the easiest reason to visit, but the museum is open every weekday. The Tennessee Agricultural Museum has more than 4,000 artifacts on two exhibit levels, plus an heirloom garden and historic cabins outside. The state's history of the grounds also lists the Strasser Experience Center, Eagle Trail, heirloom vegetable and herb gardens, a molasses mill, and the Safely Chapel and School.

Some of the outbuildings were scheduled for repairs this year. In October 2025, the state announced that the Oscar L. Farris Agricultural Museum Association had won a $19,500 Capital Maintenance and Improvements grant to repair four historic outbuildings. The plan was to replace worn porch boards and to repair or replace doors and doorframes while keeping the original latches and hinges. In that announcement, museum director Elaura Guttormson, Ph.D., called it a way "to be good stewards of these historic buildings so we can continue using them to tell Tennessee's agricultural story." She said the work was expected to finish by April 2026, in time for the annual Tractor Show.

The Spring Crank-Up Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Show was on the calendar for April 25, 2026, and RFD-TV reported in May on its vintage tractors and live demonstrations. According to the state, the museum's programs, exhibits and special events draw more than 15,000 people a year.

Why the Calendar Looks Like an Office Calendar

The museum shares the grounds with working state offices. The legend on the Ellington trail map lists the Moss Administration Building, the Ed Jones Auditorium, a Metrology Laboratory, a Master Technician Termite Training Site, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's Region 2 Office, University of Tennessee Extension, the Lou Wallace Library and an Accounting Office. The W.F. "Red" Moss Administration Building is the old Brentwood House mansion, and it now holds Department of Agriculture offices.

The state's visitor guidance for the campus says the grounds and buildings mainly serve official state business. Some spaces are open for public enjoyment, including the greenway, the hiking trail and the iris garden. So the weekday parts of Ellington follow state office hours, and the open-air parts carry the weekends.

The museum also asks visitors to call ahead to confirm hours in bad weather. That's worth doing for any December visit.

The Trails Cover the Weekends

On Saturdays and Sundays, Ellington is mostly its trails. The 2021 trail map names six routes: Rogers' Walk, Baker's Trail, South Loop, Cemetery Loop, the Seven Mile Creek Greenway and the Agricultural Museum Connector. Along the way you'll pass places named on the same map, including the William Ewing Cemetery, the Gene Armstrong Apiary, the Master Gardeners' Demonstration Site, the log cabins and the Iris Garden and Gazebo.

AllTrails lists Rogers' Walk as a 2.3-mile loop with 137 feet of elevation gain, mostly on natural surface with some paved stretches. Its route starts at the Whitfield Park parking lot off Edmondson Pike and leads into the center. If you live on the Edmondson Pike side of Crieve Hall, Whitfield Park is the easy way in. You can walk the grounds without driving up Hogan Road at all.

The state's rules for the campus are short. Dogs stay on a leash at all times, owners pick up after them, and no parking on the grass. The trail map marks the parking areas with a "P." Use one of those on open house day too.

Cul2vate Keeps the Saturday Morning

For a Saturday stop, there's the Cul2vate Farm Store at 440 Hogan Road. It's open Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon and sells local produce, meat, honey, sourdough bread, jams and more. What's on the shelves changes with the season, so check before you go. A December trip will look different from a summer one.

The store's sales fund the nonprofit's work. Cul2vate grows fresh produce for people facing food insecurity, and it hires and trains workers it calls "Cul2vators" through farm work. This fall the organization marked its tenth anniversary with Fellowship on the Farm, a farm-to-fork supper with a live auction, advertised for October 6 at its Ellington farm.

Honey, jam and a loaf of sourdough all make good small gifts, and buying them here supports the farm's work. You'll need to get there before noon on one of the three open days.

One December Week, Planned Around the Schedule

The open house week is the easiest stretch to plan, since the weekday and weekend parts of Ellington fall close together.

1. Thursday, December 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Christmas Open House at the museum, 404 Hogan Road. Children's craft kits are available starting the same day.
2. Friday, December 11: The farm store is open from 9 a.m. to noon, and craft kits are still available at the museum during its hours.
3. Saturday, December 12: The museum is closed unless there's a special event. Walk Rogers' Walk from Whitfield Park and stop at the farm store before noon.
4. December 14 to 18: The last weekday window for craft kits, while supplies last.

If you work weekdays, the open house is a good reason to take a long Thursday lunch. Admission to the museum is free.

If your Ellington walks have you thinking about Crieve Hall and the streets around Hogan Road and Edmondson Pike, we'd be glad to hear what you love about the area. Anne and Melinda at A&M Homes know this part of south Nashville and are happy to talk through whatever is next for you. Contact Us.