Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Shelby County Courthouse

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

1. Shelby County Courthouse Marker

Inscription. Designed by Architect James Gamble Rogers and dedicated on January 1, 1910, the Shelby County Courthouse is the largest and most ornate in Tennessee. Quarterly Court Chairman James Hill Barret led the movement for the imposing structure with modern amenities. Upon approval of the project and issuance of $1,000,000 in bonds (later supplemented by an additional $500,000), he appointed N.C. Perkins to head the construction committee. Until 1966 this neo~classical building of blue Bedford limestone housed the executive and
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(Reverse):
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legislative chambers of Memphis and Shelby County governments, as well as state and local courts. Beginning in 1984 and utilizing taxes paid only by litigants, County Commissioner Charles Perkins directed an extensive, 8-year renovation that resulted in refurbished courtrooms and offices for Circuit, Probate, and Chancery Courts and the Civil Division of General Sessions Court. Many fine details were preserved and augmented, including mahogany doors and paneling, brass doorknobs embossed with the County seal, and walls, pilasters, and flooring comprised of seven varieties of marble.

Erected by The Seal of Shelby County Tennessee.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic

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list: Government & Politics. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1819.

Location. 35° 8.87′ N, 90° 2.995′ W. Marker is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is in Downtown Memphis. It is at the intersection of Adams Avenue and Second Street, on the right when traveling west on Adams Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 212 Adams Avenue, 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: Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Statuary at the Shelby County Courthouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Forrest and the Memphis Slave Trade (within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it); St. Peter Catholic Church (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Malcolm Rice Patterson (about 400 feet away); Former Criminal Courts Building (about 400 feet away); Shelby County Archives and Hall of Records / Former Criminal Courts Building (about 400 feet away); Forrest's Early Home (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Memphis.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

2. Shelby County Courthouse Marker

Shelby County Courthouse image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sandra Hughes, May 18, 2010

3. Shelby County Courthouse

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 1, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 2,263 times since then and 85 times this year. Last updated on May 3, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 1, 2010, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.