Beale Street #3
During the great wave of immigration around the turn of the century, Jews, Italians, Greeks and Chinese came to Beale Street to pursue their fortunes. They established pawnshops, clothing stores, restaurants, produce stands, theaters, and clubs that, after 1920, served a predomintely Black clientele. Customers from the city and surrounding rural areas crowded Beale's sidewalks till you had to walk in the street to pass by.
"What store hours? We never had store hours. When we were here, we were here." Bernard Lansky
"My daddy had a shop
right there by the market
where Handy Park is
now. All the truck farmers
use to come here with
their vegetables and sell their
produce. They'd line
up in their stalls,
four or five hundred people every morning
trading their
vegetables."
Frank Liberto Sr.
"When he came to this
country in 1890, my father
peddled. He didn't have
anywhere to sleep. He'd
look at these little homes
with lawns and green
grass and say, 'I just pray
that someday I'll have a
home like that.' He was
trying to get established.
He opened a produce
place right there on Beale
and Mulberry."
Mrs. Nello Pacini
Center for Southern Forklore
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Places
this page online
Location. 35° 8.386′ N, 90° 3.165′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Downtown Memphis. It is on Beale Street. Marker is in front of Kings Palace Cafe on Beale Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 138 Beale St, Memphis TN 38103, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in the Upper South, in the Mississippi Delta, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Beale Street #4 (a few steps from this marker); Hooks Brothers Photography (within shouting distance of this marker); Benjamin Franklin Booth (within shouting distance of this marker); Lansky Brothers (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Beale Street #1 (about 300 feet away); Beale Street #2 (about 300 feet away); Danny Thomas (about 400 feet away); In Memory of W.C. Handy (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Memphis.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 28, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 477 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 28, 2017, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
