CLARKESVILLE – A museum showcasing more than 100 years of automotive history will open later this month in Clarkesville.
Miles Through Time, the dream of founder and co-curator Sean Mathis, will hold a soft opening in its new location at Old Clarkesville Mill on May 23.
Formerly located in Toccoa, the museum is a self-guided, hands-free tour and features an eclectic collection of an auto lover’s dream.
“Basically, what it is is a collection of a vehicles, automotive memorabilia and just historical artifacts that are all owned by individuals, donated to the museum or on loan to the museum,” Mathis said. “It’s just so that people can actually come in here and enjoy it.”
One of the specialty vehicles on display has ties to a well-known former governor and president.
“We’ve got Jimmy Carter’s Lincoln in here from when he became president and had his motorcade,” Mathis said. “This is one of the Secret Service cars that were in that, and it’s fully documented. That car was actually driven here from Florida by the lady that owns it. That was originally her dad’s. Once it leaves here at the end of the year, it will go to the Jimmy Carter Museum.”
Currently, there is a wall of A Models and T Models, as well as specialty and special interest cars, trucks and motorcycles.
“It changes,” Mathis said. “We’ve got pedal cars that will be worth $5,000-$6,000 that will rotate through. It’s just another guy’s private collection and he’s cool with letting people see it.”
Many people may remember the star-studded Cannonball Run movies of the 1980s featuring Burt Reynolds, Dom Deluise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and others.
Miles Through Time offers a glimpse at more recent cars from the cross-country race on which the movies were based.
“We’ve got a collection of Cannonball cars in here,” Mathis said. “One was the record holder from New York to L.A. It did it in 28 hours and 50 minutes, which is averaging just over 100 mph nonstop. I think the guys stopped for 45 minutes total. We’ve got one of 12 Brock Yates Edition Audi Quattros – kind of a unique car. It’s a certain demographic, but it’s neat.”
Additionally, some of the museum’s vehicles have spent time on the big screen.
“Right now, we’ve got three movie cars on display in here,” Mathis said. “Those are all only movie cars because of them being in the museum while it was in Toccoa, so who knows what the next movie cars are?”
The coronavirus pandemic delayed the opening of the museum in its new Clarkesville location.
“It was a blow to not be able to open when we had hoped to open, although it kind of might have been a blessing in disguise because we’ve had quite a few setbacks through the whole process of trying to get this ready,” Mathis said.
While the Clarkesville location is not as visible as its former location at the corner of Big A Road and Currahee Street in Toccoa, Mathis is optimistic it will bring tourists to Clarkesville to visit, shop and eat.
“Miles Through Time was started in 2017, and [we] had the opportunity to move it to Clarkesville inside the Old Clarkesville Mill at the end of last year,” Mathis said. “We’ve been spending the last few months just trying to get it ready. Here in the new location, it’s a full-blown, nonprofit.”
Relocating to Old Clarkesville Mill means Miles Through Time will be open daily.
“We are super looking forward to people actually being able to come in here seven days a week now,” Mathis said. “We hope it will bring tourism.”
The museum is accessible from the Clarkesville side of Old Clarkesville Mill, from the rear antique mall located behind Erin London.
“We are actually in conjunction with the antique mall so admission to the museum is through the rear antique mall,” Mathis said. “You’ll see the old ’47 Chevy sitting out by the front entrance.”
Admission to the museum is $7 for the day, and the self-guided tour can be completed in 45 minutes to an hour, or at the leisure of visitors.
“The museum is a self-guided tour anyway,” Mathis said. “We’ve got a lot of space in here for people to be able to walk around the cars. It’s hands-free. None of the exhibits at the moment are hands-on, so obviously touching the cars is prohibited.”
The museum accepts donations to help preserve automotive history. Miles Through Time accepts automobile memorabilia, vehicles, and cash donations.
While located in Toccoa, Miles Through Time received the 2018 Stephens County Tourism Award, the 2019 Best of Georgia Automotive Museum, and a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.
The grand re-opening is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, May 30, and will feature a cruise-in.
Miles Through Time will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.
To learn more about Miles Through Time, visit milesthroughtime.com, email [email protected] or call (478) 239-0199.
