[3] Tipton County, founded in 1823, is part of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area.

From about 10,000 BCE, Paleo-Indians and later Archaic-Indians lived as communities of hunter-gatherers in the area that covers the modern day southern United States.

They still inhabited the region of modern-day Tipton County during the time of first contact with Europeans, at the arrival of the Spanish Hernando de Soto Expedition.

[8] In about 1800, Europeans began settling the Chickasaw-inhabited lands east of the Mississippi River.

Chickasaw land in what became known as West Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky was ceded in the Jackson Purchase.

[10] The Chickasaw were to be paid annuities for 15 years, but the United States was often late with payment, or forced the people to take the value in goods.

[12] Early Mississippi River steamboat commerce flourished in Tipton County.

In 1830, the community of Randolph, one of the earliest settlements in Tipton County, was the most important shipping point in Tennessee and an early rival of Memphis for commercial supremacy.

[14][15] Following the Civil War, investment in infrastructure was renewed, and the Memphis and Paducah Railroad completed the tracks to Covington in July 1873.

The western boundary of Tipton County is the Mississippi River, separating Tennessee and Arkansas.

Tipton County is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk.

In 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau population estimate, 57,380 people resided in 22,551 housing units in Tipton County.

The museum houses various history exhibits featuring artifacts from Tipton County's rich heritage and a nature center depicting the unique ecosystem of West Tennessee.

Taxidermies of local species and mastodon bone fragments give insight into the natural history.

Natural woodland and man-made wetlands are the sites for a few smaller local species, such as turtles and birds.

The Veterans Memorial in front of the museum commemorates the soldiers from the county who lost their lives in wars.