Be patient at the oldest museum dedicated to country doctors

Visitors looking for North Carolina’s quirky and unusual attractions will have their patience rewarded at the County Doctor Museum in the town of Bailey in Nash County. The museum, founded in 1967, is housed in two restored 19th-century physicians’ offices and interprets the history of medicine in rural America. The collection includes more than 5,000 artifacts including medical instruments and apothecary items as well as diaries, papers and medical books. Docents lead visitors on tours of the museum and explain what medical treatments, practices and challenges were like in the days when physicians made house calls. The museum also interprets nursing, pharmaceuticals and home remedies. The museum’s Carriage House features a surrey as well as 1912 and 1926 Ford Model Ts that were once owned by North Carolina physicians and showcases the challenges and advances in transportation that assisted rural physicians.