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Exotic shells and other sea-based items and artifacts fill the Stimpson Seashell Museum.
A shell collector has agreed to share part of his collections with the public.
Hundreds of miles from the ocean, Dr. Peter Stimpson showcases seashells in the mountains of East Tennessee.
“The most beautiful seashells come from the Pacific and Indian oceans,” says Stimpson, 72, a family practice doctor for 45 years at Loudon, Tennessee.
Situated about 25 miles south of Knoxville, the newly opened Stimpson Seashell Museum occupies 800 square feet in part of the former McGill-Karnes Funeral Home, using display cases that once stood inside a now-closed Kmart.
To label shells and welcome visitors, Stimpson gets help from his wife, Diana, and his daughter, Kasey.
Local tourism officials asked Stimpson to share his seashells: a gargantuan collection that numbers in the thousands.
Most shells remain at his nearby home.
Yet, at the heart of downtown Loudon, 406 Wharf Street, Stimpson boasts about 2,000 shells—volutes, olives, conches, helmets and harps—with many coming from the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Stimpson began collecting shells on a trip to Tahiti in 1988 and, today, stays in constant contact with dealers across the globe—from Hong Kong to Florida.
“I tell people I could go around the planet and never stay in a hotel,” Stimpson says. “I could just go from seashell friend to seashell friend.”
865-657-6609 / stimpsonseashellmuseum.com
The story above appears in our January/February 2021 issue.
