It features a collection of Chickasaw artifacts, a genealogy research center and a one-room log Council House, built in 1853.

[2] The Chickasaw modeled their government after the United States, moving from a tribal council to a three-branch system consisting of legislative, executive and judicial branches.

[4] The Council House is a 14 by 24 foot log building that was originally located at Good Spring on Pennington Creek.

In 1898 it was replaced by the structure that remains today, a large granite building, which also served as the Johnston County Courthouse.

The building was constructed in 1898 at a cost of $15,000[5] (equivalent to $549,000 in 2023) in the Victorian Gothic styles,[5] utilizing granite from the nearby, then tribally-owned quarry.