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
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
The Right of Citizens of the United States to Vote Shall Not be Denied
or Abridged by the United States or by any State on Account of Sex
How Tennessee Became "The Perfect 36"
Centennial Park was the site of several suffrage rallies in . . . — — Map (db m117841) 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
The Original Town Site of Collierville/Colliersville
In this area and to the east, lies the original town site of Collierville. The lands that were destined to become Collierville traveled through many periods of history before a village . . . — — Map (db m149071) HM
Soon after Millington was founded in the 1870's, a reading school was established in a wood-frame structure on this site by the Shelby County Board of Education. In the 1890's the school was organized into grades and by 1911 two students received . . . — — Map (db m148578) HM
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Avon N. Williams, Jr., was an attorney, statewide civil rights leader, politician, educator, and a founder of the Davidson County Independent Political Council and the Tennessee Voters Council. In 1950, as a . . . — — Map (db m147486) HM
Charles Harrison Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), was born in the mid-1860s on a farm in Shelby County, Tennessee. His parents, Jeremiah and Eliza Mason, later moved the family to Plumerville, Arkansas where Mason was . . . — — Map (db m206947) HM
Millington, Tennessee
Millwood, by the plank road leading to Memphis, and Glencoe, often flooded in the Big Creek area, merged to form Millington around 1875. To stay near the railroad, Glencoe accepted George Millington's land donation if the . . . — — Map (db m148608) HM
Organized in 1857, this church was originally known as Mount Carmel. It was the First Presbyterian Congregation established in Shelby County. A one-room log cabin served as a meeting place until a large two-story frame building was constructed in . . . — — Map (db m268297) HM
This congregation traces its history to 1857, when a Union church was organized to serve Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian settlers in this area, many of whom migrated here from Tennessee. Named Mount Carmel, the church building was a one-room . . . — — Map (db m268295) HM
In the community of Barretville, which had been established in 1852 by his grandfather, Anthony Barret (1827-1910), Paul Weisiger Barret (1899-1976) co-founded Barretville Bank & Trust Company in 1920, when he was only 21. Under his leadership, . . . — — Map (db m148554) HM
In the 1800s this area, known for its rich and fertile farm land, attracted settlers from the Carolinas, East and Middle Tennessee who were pioneering the "Great West". Associate Reformed Presbyterians (ARP) arrived and established Salem Church in . . . — — Map (db m179144) 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
As the longest serving member of the Tennessee House of Representatives (1973-2013), Rep. DeBerry was known as an exemplary legislator. She was the first woman to chair the Shelby County delegation, the first female Speaker Pro Tempore (1987-2010), . . . — — Map (db m203498) HM
Zion Cemetery, comprising 15 acres, was established in 1876 by the United Sons of Zion Association, a group of former slaves who responded to the need for a respectable burial site for African-Americans. It is the final resting place for many . . . — — Map (db m86450) HM
During the winter of 1862-63, Confederate troops, including the First Tennessee
Partisan Rangers, successfully attacked Federal troops in a series of skirmishes in southwest Tennessee. To deter further strikes, Union cavalry from Memphis, Jackson, . . . — — Map (db m148565) HM
A veteran of 1835 Texas armed resistance to Mexican forces. Participated in the Grass Fight (Nov. 26), and in victory at San Antonio on Dec. 10, 1835. Haley was born in Tennessee. In 1824, he moved to present Shelby County, Texas. For his services . . . — — Map (db m171529) HM
The land currently known as Arlington originally belonged to the Chickasaw Indians. In 1818, a Treaty with the Chickasaw ceded this land, along with other land in West Tennessee, to the United States. On November 24, 1819, Shelby County was . . . — — Map (db m179116) HM
Clarence Saunders, whose self-service groceries were followed by modern supermarkets, started construction of this building for his home in 1922. It was incomplete when he lost an epic Stock Exchange battle. Developers who bought the grounds gave . . . — — Map (db m74831) 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
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
Near this site stood Shelbyville, A. T., first county seat of Shelby County; named for Isaac Shelby, governor of Tennessee. Shelby County was established February 7, 1818 by an act of the Alabama Territorial legislature. The first orphans’ court . . . — — Map (db m294988) HM
The oldest public building in Memphis and the first Episcopal Church in Shelby County. Organized August 6, 1832 by the Reverend Thomas Wright.
The church house started 1838 was consecrated May 12, 1844 by the Right Reverend James Hervey Otey, first . . . — — Map (db m32515) HM
Charl Ormand Williams, an Arlington native, began teaching in a one-room school house in Shelby County when she was sixteen. She followed her sister, Mabel C. Williams, as Superintendent of Public Instruction for Shelby County, serving in that . . . — — Map (db m204746) 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
Judge John Louis Taylor Sneed (1820-1901) named this house which is built of native poplar and cypress. Only a few of this "Victorian piano-box" style, more common to middle-Tennessee, survive. E.A. Spottswood, Sr. sold this land to Levi Joy in . . . — — Map (db m84457) HM
A native of Tennessee who settled in East Texas in the 1820s, James English fought in the siege of Bexar (1835) and served as comissioner for the Shelby County Militia during the Texas Revolution. English received a land grant in Houston County for . . . — — Map (db m286848) HM
Born Frances Ellen Davies, Mrs. Davies-Rodgers was teacher, school administrator, Shelby County Historian for 30 years, genealogist, author of 10 books (focusing mainly on the Brunswick area and Episcopal Church history), philanthropist. church . . . — — Map (db m179133) HM
Herbert Thomas Brooks served in community leadership roles for over 50 years. His leadership and vision affected almost every facet of the community and can be seen in the physical beauty of Collierville's landscape as well as the design of the . . . — — Map (db m37271) HM
Dr. Greene Fort Pinkston, who practiced medicine for more than 58 years in the Cordova area, was born in Scott County, Mississippi, in 1875. His parents were Ritton and Fannie Gresham Pinkston. At age 24 he left home to attend Meharry Medical School . . . — — Map (db m118383) 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
"..The triumph of Memphis as a great city could not be written without an account of the marvelous career of the late R.R. Church, who built a fame on character and left two fortunes. One a great estate as men appraise wealth, and the other . . . — — Map (db m140747) HM
Originally known as Mount Carmel, the community served by this cemetery adopted the name Tennessee, as many families from that state settled here. Ancestors of John B. Woodfin (1856-1945) are said to have first set aside land for this burial ground, . . . — — Map (db m268296) HM
Gen. James H. Wilson, USA, having crossed the Tennessee River with a large force of well equipped cavalry, grouped them here at Elyton.
Their mission: to destroy Alabama's economic facilities for supporting the War.
From these headquarters he . . . — — Map (db m24358) HM
Harpersville is one of Shelby County’s oldest communities. Its existence precedes that of Shelby County and the State of Alabama. Big Springs, as Harpersville was originally called, was settled around 1815 by the Harper and Kidd families. Prime . . . — — Map (db m61886) HM
The oldest son of A.M. and Mary Ballentine, John Goff Ballentine was born at his family's residence on South First Street in Pulaski on May 20, 1825. He graduated from Wurtemburg Academy in 1841, from the University of Nashville in 1845 and from . . . — — Map (db m151143) HM
Wade Bolton and Bolton College
On this site in 1887 upon the Hoboken Plantation was erected the first building of Bolton College, established under the provisions of the will of Wade H. Bolton, prominent landowner, killed in 1869 by a former . . . — — Map (db m148523) HM
Georgia native George Washington Green grew up in Tennessee and in 1878 set out for Texas. He married Tempie Ann Fowler in Logansport, Louisiana, that year, and they settled in this part of Texas. Green worked first as a sharecropper, growing cotton . . . — — Map (db m268298) 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
Lewis and Clark in Kentucky 1806 Return of Expedition
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark, leaders of the 1803-06 journey to the Pacific, visited Shelbyville several times. In Nov. 1806, on the Expedition's return, Lewis arrived with . . . — — Map (db m269257) HM
Davies Manor provides a stunning example of wartime survival. Located just north of the stage route between Memphis and Nashville, the house and surrounding plantation were visited by soldiers from both sides during the Civil War.
When the war . . . — — Map (db m179119) HM
In July of 1866, Collierville, like much of the South, was beginning to recover from the ravages of war. Three years earlier, "Mister Collier's Village" consisting of several homes and a general store a few hundred yards east of the square on Mt. . . . — — Map (db m149075) 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
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
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.