In 1860, Memphis had Tennessee's largest cotton and slave markets and was a strategic Mississippi River gateway. The naval battle of Memphis in June 1862 took place as thousands of residents watched nine Union vessels defeat eight Confederate ships. . . . — — Map (db m55313) HM
This building. designed by architects
Long & Kees with E. C. Jones supervising, was dedicated to the worship
of God on Jan. 1, 1893. It was the second home of Second Presbyterian
Church (organized Dec. 28, 1844)
until sold to the AME Church in . . . — — Map (db m148963) HM
There were several boat landings in this general area during the nineteenth century. An 1827 drawing shows a public landing approximately on-half mile north of this spot, but changes in the "batture" or built-up bank caused by the river moved the . . . — — Map (db m88262) HM
The Cobblestones that line the river landing once stretched all the way to Front Street, from Beale Street north to Court Avenue. The cobblestones were installed between 1859-1881 and are still intact underneath the pavement on Union Avenue. — — Map (db m148901) HM
This bluff was fortified by Gen. Pillow May 1862. Thirty seven companies were equipped here for the Confederate service. The Confederate Ram, Arkansas, one of the first ironclad battleships in the Navy, was built and partially armored here, but . . . — — Map (db m82848) HM
Opened in 1906 as part of the Memphis Park and Parkway System, Confederate Park commemorates the Battle of Memphis. When Confederate forces retreated to Mississippi after the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, unfortified Memphis became vulnerable to . . . — — Map (db m82849) HM
Jews have been part of Tennessee’s economic, social and political life since the late 18th century. Congregation Children of Israel, chartered by the State of Tennessee, March 2, 1854, rented and eventually purchased a building near this site at . . . — — Map (db m84648) HM
In the 1860s, Madame Cora
James claimed to give psychic
predictions, recover stolen goods,
and cure insanity and nervous
diseases from her room around
the corner on Main. — — Map (db m221385) HM
The Memphis Cotton Exchange, was first organized in 1873 and is still operating today, though cotton trading is now done by computers. In the early 1950s a seat on the Exchange could cost a new member $17,000. Memphis was the largest spot cotton . . . — — Map (db m116725) HM
Court Square was almost sold to developers in the 1870s to pay back debts incurred in the yellow fever epidemics. It was almost sold again in the early 1900s for a skyscraper, and still again in the 1940s for parking. — — Map (db m148966) HM
The D.T. Porter Building was Memphis’ first skyscraper and the tallest building south of St. Louis when completed in 1895. Some city officials believed a building that tall would blow over in a strong wind. Visitors paid 10 cents to ride one of the . . . — — Map (db m148974) HM
Thanks to entertainer Danny Thomas, who founded St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, this road bears the name Beale Street. Created as an avenue in 1841, locals began calling it Beale Street after the African-American blues legend W.C. . . . — — Map (db m154265) HM
This property
has been placed on
The
National Register
of Historic Places
by order of
the United States
Department of the Interior — — Map (db m221410) HM
Happy Jones was born a member of the socially prominent Snowden family, but she embraced society in the largest possible sense. She involved herself in every imaginable public issue aimed at broadening justice and opportunity for citizens at large — . . . — — Map (db m205427) HM
Born in Bolivar, Elizabeth Meriwether spent much of her life in Memphis. A noted author, her more famous works include The Master of Red Leaf, Black and White, and Recollections of 92 Years. Mrs. Meriwether toured many states lecturing in support of . . . — — Map (db m55308) HM
During the last two decades of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th, dedicated Tennessee women campaigned relentlessly for woman suffrage. Remembered here are the stories of some of these trailblazers whose perseverance in . . . — — Map (db m203851) HM
Born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, 1798: immigrated to the United States, 1828;
settled in Memphis, 1833.
His home was the scene of three important religious occasions in Memphis:
first Catholic mass, 1839;
first Catholic marriage, 1840; . . . — — Map (db m32518) HM
U.S. Marshal Orville Webster
and Memphis police detective
Will Smiddy, who was also a
bootlegger, shot each other
outside Smiddy's saloon in
a face-off during the
early days of Prohibition. — — Map (db m221388) HM
Before 88 Union Center was renovated in the 1980's, it was known as the Three Sisters Building for the ladies apparel store that opened here in 1938. Before that, the 1927 building was called the Farnsworth Building after its financier, C.F. . . . — — Map (db m148904) HM
Parking can be fun, but not as fun as a show at Loew's Palace, where "talking movies" debuted in Memphis in 1928. The theater, where Harry Houdini and others performed in the 1920s, was razed in the 1980s. — — Map (db m116720) HM
On October 25, 1948 at 4p.m., Nat D. Williams signed on at WDIA radio, becoming the first black disc jockey on the South's first all-black radio station. His revolutionary rhythm and blues program followed a show called "Hillbilly Party" and . . . — — Map (db m116723) HM
Shelby County's first court house, a $50 cabin, was built here in 1820. The court moved to Raleigh, and the cabin then housed the first newspaper, the Memphis Advocate, which began January 18, 1827. — — Map (db m148633) HM
Despite the hardships and divided loyalties of the Civil War, First National Bank of Memphis received Charter No. 336 from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on March 25, 1864. Renamed First Tennessee in 1971, the city's first federally . . . — — Map (db m148967) HM
Designed by Jones & Furbringer, Architects, this building opened in 1925 as the Criminal Courts Building, housing two divisions of criminal court, a 300-bed county jail, and various offices. The limestone exterior features several design elements of . . . — — Map (db m63366) HM
From 1854 to 1860, Nathan Bedford Forrest operated a profitable slave trading business at this site. In 1826, Tennessee had prohibited bringing enslaved people into the state for the purpose of selling them. As cotton and slavery grew in . . . — — Map (db m117144) HM
In a house which stood here in antebellum days lived Nathan Bedford Forrest. Born in middle Tennessee, 1821, he spent his early life on a Mississippi plantation.
Following marriage in 1845, he came to Memphis, where his business enterprises made . . . — — Map (db m115931) HM
A. Fort Adams, Mississippi
Mile 311.9 AHP
This high bluff was first named Davion’s Rock, for a French priest who lived here with the Tunica Indians in the early 1700’s. It was later called Loftus Heights, for a British Major Loftus whose . . . — — Map (db m115004) HM
Frances Grant Loring, a sixth generation Memphian, spent her life trying to build a better community wherever she was. She empowered women and minorities, helped further literacy, supported adult education, and was passionate about civil rights, . . . — — Map (db m205021) HM
Opened in 1842, named for the early Spanish governor, this hotel's main entrance was originally here. Capt. William H. Forrest, raiding into Memphis under his famous brother in the early morning of August 21, 1864, rode his horse into the lobby, . . . — — Map (db m221383) HM
In 1893, George Jackson established on Beale Street the Jackson Drug Store,
also known as the New Era Pharmacy, the first drug store in Memphis to be owned and operated by a black person. Jackson received degrees from Oberlin College and the . . . — — Map (db m162727) HM
In 1929, the architects of the National Bank of Commerce wanted to convey the strength of the bank by basing their design on ancient Greek temples. It's built according to the "Golden Section" rule, meaning that its width to length ratio is almost . . . — — Map (db m148958) HM
August 2nd, 1885: A riot broke out after police arrested 16-year-old Hattie Manely of Xenia, Ohio. Manely was an African-American who didn't realize she was committing a crime when she sat in a chair in Court Square vacated by a white man. — — Map (db m148971) HM
Here, on April 4, 1968 …
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the balcony in front of Room 306, discussing that evening's sanitation strike meeting with aides. King requested his favorite spiritual, “Precious Lord,” be played that night. . . . — — Map (db m183598) HM
“The Mansion,” one of the many
brothels that lined Gayoso Avenue
when prostitution was legal in the late
1800s, stood here. It was the home of
madam Annie Cook, who died treating
victims of the yellow fever epidemic
after she turned her house . . . — — Map (db m221386) HM
Side A Established by Henry A. Hooks, Sr. and his brother Robert B. Hooks, Hooks Brothers Photography Studio was the second oldest continuously operating black business in Memphis.
Located during its early years at 164 Beale Street, it . . . — — Map (db m32512) HM
Ida Bell Wells was born enslaved on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She came of age during Reconstruction and was educated at Rust College After she was orphaned in 1878 at the age of 16, she became a caregiver to her five younger . . . — — Map (db m204391) HM
Ida B. Wells crusaded against lynchings in Memphis and the South. In 1892 while editor of the Memphis Free Speech, located in this vicinity, she wrote of the lynching of three Black businessmen. As a result, her newspaper office was destroyed . . . — — Map (db m9306) HM
Born in Athens, Alabama, on February 2, 1922,
James Alfred Hyter moved to Memphis with his
family when he was one week old. From 1978
to 1998, he sang "Ol' Man River" in his deep
resonant voice at the annual Memphis-in-May
Sunset Symphony. He . . . — — Map (db m193158) HM
The 35th mayor of Memphis, 1906-1910. Author of "The Chickasaw Nation". He shared a legal office on the 11th floor of the exchange building, overlooking Court Square, with his younger brother Walter Malone. Judge of the second circuit court of . . . — — Map (db m74800) HM
Author John Grisham immortalized downtown Memphis, particularly Front Street, in his novel The Firm. In 1993, he became the first author to have four books on the best seller list at the same time. Rooted deeply in the South's rich literary . . . — — Map (db m116357) HM
On Friday, Dec. 1. 1820, this naturalist and
artist landed nearby, on his way by flatboat
from Cincinnati to New Orleans. He kept a
diary and sketched animals and birds seen en
route. Near here, he saw gulls, cormorants,
“white-headed eagles, . . . — — Map (db m193148) HM
Joseph Hanover came to the United States from Poland at the age of five with his mother. His father had come earlier to begin a new life, save money, and send for them. Later, Hanover became a lawyer in Memphis and served for one term, 1919-1921, in . . . — — Map (db m204807) HM
Josiah T. Settle, one of the earliest African-American 19th century Memphis lawyers, was born in the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee. Educated at Oberlin College, Settle was a member of the Howard University's first law school graduating . . . — — Map (db m225704) HM
Lansky Brothers was founded in 1946 by Bernard and Guy Lansky with a $125 investment from their father, S. L. Lansky. The store began at 126 Beale Street as an army surplus store, but gradually changed to accommodate customers interested in a . . . — — Map (db m63367) HM
Lauderdale Courts
Built in 1936 by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Lauderdale Courts was one of the first federal housing projects in the nation. It replaced substandard housing with clean, modern dwellings for the . . . — — Map (db m87028) HM
For someone to choose this country and live through 17 U.S. Presidents is amazing. Eugene Magevney was born in 1798 in Ireland. He must have heard the call of freedom from America as a child while our nation was still in its infancy and John Adams . . . — — Map (db m115917) HM
Lide Smith Meriwether of Memphis was a major leader of the woman suffrage movement in Tennessee in the 19th century and nationally known in the 1890s. She had taken part in earlier organizations to help women and children, but it was in working . . . — — Map (db m204206) HM
Lulu Colyar Reese was a socially prominent clubwoman who became active in Memphis education and politics as an advocate for free textbooks and child labor laws. In 1916, she was one of the first two women elected to the Memphis City Board of . . . — — Map (db m204266) HM
Lung Kong Tin Yee Association Chinese settlers established the Lung Kong Tin Yee Association at 233 South Third Street in the 1920s, later moving to 250 Vance Avenue, to offer mutual assistance in the New World. Most of these settlers came from . . . — — Map (db m221392) HM
A native of Somerville, Alabama, Patterson
moved to Memphis with his parents in 1872.
Educated at Christian Brothers College and
Vanderbilt University, he was admitted to
the bar in 1883. From 1894 to 1900 he served
as attorney-general for . . . — — Map (db m221415) HM
Marion Scudder Griffin was the first practicing female attorney in Tennessee as well as the first woman to serve in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Upon moving to Memphis, she worked in Judge Thomas M. Scruggs' office as a stenographer . . . — — Map (db m204740) HM
Marion Scudder Griffin, although qualified, was refused a Tennessee law license for seven years solely because she was a woman. In 1907, she became the first woman attorney in Tennessee after she successfully lobbied the legislature to admit women . . . — — Map (db m116302) HM
Before selling Memphis lots, developers set
aside this park as Market Square in 1819.
Facing it was the first courthouse, built in
1820, which was also used as a church and
newspaper office.
Near the square was a
frontier hotel, the first . . . — — Map (db m148628) HM
A champion of racial and gender equality, Mary Church was born on September 23,
1863, in Memphis to business owners Louisa and Robert R. Church. "Mollie,” as she was called, earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Oberlin College, taught . . . — — Map (db m213321) HM
Born in Memphis in 1863, Mary Church Terrell was noted as a champion of human rights. The daughter of millionaire Robert Church, Sr., she was graduated from Oberlin College in 1884 and later made her home in Washington, D.C. In 1904, she was a . . . — — Map (db m63342) HM
The only woman leader of the struggle to desegregate a major Southern city, Maxine Atkins Smith was an academic and activist who was called the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement in Memphis.” Born on October 31, 1929, she finished high school at . . . — — Map (db m205158) HM
In Memoriam
1917-------------1918
In Memory of
The Four Members of
The Memphis and Shelby County
Medical Society
Who gave their lives in the service
of their fellow men in the World War
Capt. Robert B. Underwood - Lieut. A.P. . . . — — Map (db m88260) WM
Built in 1955 by the Dubuque Boat & Boiler Company, the Memphis Queen II was the first all-steel passenger ship on the Mississippi River. Measuring 85 feet long by 43 feet wide, it features two decks, two smokestacks, and a stern wheel . . . — — Map (db m88257) HM
Minerva J. Johnican made history in city and county politics as a trailblazer and for her determination to work across racial lines. Johnican-county commissioner, city council member, criminal court clerk, as well as
candidate for congresswoman and . . . — — Map (db m205784) HM
When Riverside Drive was constructed in the mid-1930's, this park was built on what had been an old dumping ground for construction debris and dredge soil. It was enlarged to its present size in 1937, using material dredged from the river. . . . — — Map (db m88264) HM
Front
On this South Main Street corner in 1988 the modern wave of Memphis movie making was born, in great measure through the efforts of the Memphis & Shelby County Film Commissioner Linn Sitler and Shelby County Government official . . . — — Map (db m116289) HM
Mud Island, across the old Wolf River channel before you, began to be formed by the Mississippi River around 1900. By 1916 there was concern that it would grow so far south that it would block access to the harbor, so the island was connected to . . . — — Map (db m88265) HM
In 1948, Nat D. Williams became the first black radio announcer in Memphis when he began broadcasting for WDIA. He was a cofounder of the Cotton Makers Jubilee and is credited with giving the celebration its name. A history teacher in the Memphis . . . — — Map (db m13748) HM
Atop these bluffs in the early morning hours of June 6, 1862, the citizens of Memphis gathered in excited anticipation as the Confederate River Defense Fleet steamed out into the Mississippi to meet the descending Union Gunboat Fleet. The . . . — — Map (db m116185) HM
In 1883, flames from a store on the north side of Barboro made it across the alley and burned down the city's old opera house, the Greenlaw. — — Map (db m148961) HM
Everyone knows that ducks swim in the Peabody's fountain, but for a short time in the 1930s the fountain also contained baby alligators. During World War II, enlisted men who had nowhere else to stay were allowed to sleep on the floor of the lobby . . . — — Map (db m148910) HM
"The Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg … If you stand near its fountain in the middle of the lobby, where ducks waddle and turtles drowse, you will see everybody who is anybody in the . . . — — Map (db m148912) HM
Designed by Chicago Architect Walter Ahlschlager in 1925, the Peabody was restored by Philip and Jack Belz in 1980. During the restoration, workers removing a basement wall to install a pipe accidentally discovered the hotel's original blueprints . . . — — Map (db m148914) HM
Pee Wee's Saloon was the favorite meeting spot for Memphis musicians in the early 20th century. W.C. Handy used the cigar counter to write out copies of the Beale Street Blues for his band members. One of those songs, written for the 1909 political . . . — — Map (db m9302) HM
Phi Beta Sigma
Native Tennessean Abram Langston Taylor, near this spot, 423 Beale Avenue, conceived the idea of establishing an international organization of college and professional men dedicated to “Culture for Service and Service . . . — — Map (db m63343) HM
Marker Front:
With a brass band, a beauty contest, flowers for the ladies, and balloons for the children Clarence Saunders of Memphis opened the first Piggly Wiggly, America's first completely self-service grocery store, at 79 Jefferson . . . — — Map (db m88646) HM
Poplar Tunes
Calling itself "Memphis' Original Record Shop," Poplar Tunes lived up to its billing. Founders Joe Cuoghi and John Novarese opened the store in 1946, selling records for the retail, wholesale and jukebox trade. Demo records . . . — — Map (db m87025) HM
Near this spot on January 1. 1851, a mob of 1,200 to 1,500 people lynched an unidentified black man for the murder of John Chester, the Memphis City Recorder. The victim was likely a passenger aboard the SS Winfield Scott. which had ported . . . — — Map (db m148626) HM
The Public Promenade was deeded to the City of Memphis by its original proprietors in 1828 for public walking and leisure. It originally included 36 acres along the west side of the Mississippi Row, now Front Street, from Union to Jackson Avenue. — — Map (db m148903) HM
Founded in 1914 by Robert Stevenson Lewis Sr. and later operated by sons Robert Jr. and Clarence, the family business became committed to improving the quality of life for African-Americans in the community. Among their achievements, in the 1920s . . . — — Map (db m107484) HM
(Obverse)
Born March 26, 1917, in Cayce, Mississippi, this legendary entertainer known worldwide, began his career in the 1930s with the Rabbit Foot Minstrel Shows. He was the organizer and master of ceremonies of the amateur shows in the . . . — — Map (db m9303) HM
In 1952, Roberta Church became the first black woman in Memphis to be elected to public office and to the Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee. She served as an official in the administrations of Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon. In 1987, . . . — — Map (db m63290) HM
The first free "colored" school in the city was opened in early 1863 in a barrack building in South Memphis. In 1864 the U.S. Army issued a general order authorizing its officers to help with these schools for the education of freedmen. In 1865 . . . — — Map (db m82858) HM
Shelby County Archives and Hall of Records
After the Shelby County criminal courts and jail moved from here in 1982, this National Register Historic District building stood empty until 1998, when extensive renovations were completed and . . . — — Map (db m116295) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m82860) HM
on October 18, 1877, at residence of Col. Mike Burke, 673 Shelby, Superintendent of Miss. & Tenn. RR, which was connected only with RR office and home of Col. H.A. Montgomery at Poplar & Bellevue. — — Map (db m116291) HM
The Solvent Savings Bank and Trust Company founded by Robert Church, Sr., first Negro bank established in Memphis, opened at this site, 392 Beale Street, in 1906. It survived the money panic of 1907 and became the fourth largest black bank in the . . . — — Map (db m48758) HM
Parish founded in 1852 by German Catholics desiring ministry in their native tongue. Cornerstone laid 30 Sept. 1864 at this site while Union soldiers fired a salute. Second oldest Catholic church in Memphis. Designed by noted architect James B. Cook . . . — — Map (db m87022) HM
St. Peter's was founded in 1840, the first Roman Catholic parish in West Tennessee and given to the Dominican Order in 1846. The present church was built 1852~1855 around a smaller church which was then dismantled and carried out the doors. Within . . . — — Map (db m32516) HM
Exterior statuary at the Shelby County Courthouse includes, most prominently, six seated figures carved from single blocks of Tennessee marble, representing Wisdom, Justice, Liberty, Authority, Peace, and Prosperity. Near the top of the north facade . . . — — Map (db m82861) HM
Bronze Plaque This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
Corner stone Tennessee Club founded in 1875 by General Colton Greene. Club house built in 1890. Building . . . — — Map (db m74805) HM
Front
The Blues Foundation, the world’s premier organization dedicated to honoring, preserving, and promoting the blues, was founded in Memphis in 1980. Mississippi-born performers and business professionals in the Foundation’s Blues Hall . . . — — Map (db m63288) HM
The bright lights of Beale Street and the promise of musical stardom have lured blues musicians from nearby Mississippi since the early 1900s. Early Memphis blues luminaries who migrated from Mississippi include Gus Cannon, Furry Lewis, Jim Jackson . . . — — Map (db m82863) HM
In 1872 every building in this city block was leveled in what was called "the worst fire in Memphis history". The entire cost of the damage was $266,000 or about the cost of one large new house in 2003. — — Map (db m148907) HM
Built in 1869 by James Lee, Jr. (1832–1905), lawyer, riverman and leader in the development of Memphis, the first Lee House was designed by architect Joseph Willis. In this home of Italianate-Victorian design also lived James Lee, Sr. . . . — — Map (db m82864) HM
Starting business in 1900, Clarence Gillis and brothers Andrew and Cornelius were noted entrepreneurs. They adopted the name "Gillis Brothers” and engaged in several business ventures, the first of which was a grocery located on Polk Street. . . . — — Map (db m147558) HM
On this corner the Grand Opera House was dedicated on September 22, 1890. "The Grand" was destroyed by fire October 17, 1923
The New Orpheum Theatre was rebuilt and opened November 19, 1928
For over a century this corner has been the . . . — — Map (db m148900) HM
Cousins Tony Angelos and Charles Skinner emigrated from Greece together and opened "The Hole in the Wall" cafe behind the old Peabody Hotel in 1911. In 1923, they opened the Bon Ton Cafe, which became a favorite haunt of Elvis in his early days and . . . — — Map (db m148960) HM
During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Jet magazine reported in 1965 that members of the Lee Family of Memphis “have been arrested 17 times for civil rights activities and claim the title of the Most Arrested Family'' in the . . . — — Map (db m129505) HM
Originally the Windsor Hotel (c. 1925) and later one of only a few hotels for blacks, it hosted such entertainers as Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Count Basie, B.B. King, and Nat King Cole. Walter and Loree Bailey bought it in 1942, renaming it . . . — — Map (db m82865) HM
From this spot press and type of the Appeal were loaded on a freight car at Main and Madison in early morning, June 6, 1862, just before a naval battle. This paper kept the journalistic flag of the Confederacy flying from Grenada, Miss., then . . . — — Map (db m148921) HM
Musician • Composer • Publisher. 1873–1958. Father of the Blues. In this house was born Memphis Blues, St. Louis Blues, Beale Street Blues and other great songs. This house was moved here from 659 Janette Street in 1983 and . . . — — Map (db m3240) HM
This was the site of the original Peabody Hotel from 1869 until 1923. George Peabody was a businessman who set aside $3.5 million to improve education in the South in 1868. After his death the following year, friend and business associate Robert . . . — — Map (db m148956) HM
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