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All the United States North Carolina Hendersonville Appalachian Pinball Museum
AO Edited Sponsored by Henderson County Tourism Development Authority

Appalachian Pinball Museum

This hands-on museum houses roughly 80 vintage pinball machines and arcade games.

Hendersonville, North Carolina

Added By
Virginia Brown
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Play vintage pinball machines and video arcade games at the Appalachian Pinball Museum.   Courtesy of Visit Hendersonville NC
Play vintage pinball machines and video arcade games at the Appalachian Pinball Museum.   Courtesy of Visit Hendersonville NC
The Appalachian Pinball Museum is housed in a historic 1929 hotel ballroom.   Courtesy of Visit Hendersonville NC
The oldest machine at the Appalachian Pinball Museum is a 1947 Gottlieb Marjorie.   Courtesy of Visit Hendersonville NC
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About

Pings and dings, rock-guitar riffs, and robotic laughs create a lively cacophony inside the Appalachian Pinball Museum in downtown Hendersonville, North Carolina. 

Located on Main Street in a historic hotel building, the museum is the pet project of owners T.C. Di Bella and John Franks. The pair opened the museum in 2017, following the success of its sister Asheville location. Today, the Franks family maintains the daily operations. 

Two large rooms house roughly 65 pinball machines—some rare, most playable—and a separate video arcade holds 15 or so more games. The oldest machine, a 1947 Gottlieb Marjorie, predates having flippers on the playfield. 

Other highlights include Dogies, a 1968 rodeo-style game that was the first to introduce the zipper-flipper function; a 1978 machine paying homage to the rock band Kiss that was originally intended to be the first machine ever designed with speech elements; and 1973’s Time Travel, one of the only machines that doesn’t function by ball count, operating by a clock in the middle of the playfield.

Throughout the museum, you can snap photos with Marvel and Star Wars characters and other recognizable cutouts. Several machines and games are saved for display purposes only, including Allied Liesures’ 1971 Spin Out. The museum also has a full Pin Bot propped up, exposing the machine’s inner workings, coils and all. 

But the quirky pastimes aren’t the only nod to history here. The museum is located in the one-time grand ballroom of the historic Skyland Hotel, which dates to 1929. Famed author F. Scott Fitzgerald and President Ronald Reagan reportedly once stayed here. And, according to local lore, it’s haunted.  

Related Tags

Arcades Collections Retro Tech Interactive Pinball Museums

Know Before You Go

Admission is free. The fee is $13 for all-day play (you can even come and go off site, so you can explore downtown Hendersonville). Light snacks, drinks, and regional beers are available for purchase. Open Sunday and Monday, 1 to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 2 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 12 to 9 p.m. Closed Wednesday.

Sponsored by Henderson County Tourism Development Authority

Community Contributors

Added By

Virginia Brown

Edited By

BE, traceywilson

  • BE
  • traceywilson

Published

April 14, 2025

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Sources
  • https://wlos.com/news/local/skyland-hotel-hendersonville-paranormal-activity-ghost-stories-western-north-carolina-haunting-tales-historic-history
  • https://visithendersonvillenc.org/businesses/appalachian-pinball-museum#:~:text=Description,by%20season%2C%20call%20for%20details.
  • https://www.facebook.com/pinballplayers/
  • Ace French: 828-702-9277 (daughter)
Appalachian Pinball Museum
538 N. Main Street
Hendersonville, North Carolina, 28792
United States
35.318679, -82.460325
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Photo of Hendersonville

Hendersonville

North Carolina

Places 6

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Places 6

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