History Unveiled: A Journey Through Time
Memphis has shaped American music, commerce, and civil rights history. That history is still visible across the city, in its museums, its downtown streets, and the neighborhoods that grew outward from the river.
Founding and Early Growth
Memphis was founded in 1819 by John Overton, James Winchester, and Andrew Jackson on the Chickasaw Bluffs above the Mississippi River. Its location made it a natural river port. By the mid-1800s, the city was one of the largest cotton markets in the country, and Front Street's Cotton Row became the center of that trade.
The city also has deep medical roots. The hospital that became Regional One Health was chartered in 1829, making it the oldest hospital in Tennessee.
Music and Culture
In the early 1900s, W.C. Handy and other musicians helped bring the blues to a national audience from Beale Street. In the 1950s, Sun Studio recorded early work by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Stax Records followed in the 1960s and defined the Memphis soul sound.
Civil Rights
Memphis played a central role in the civil rights movement. In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to support striking sanitation workers and was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. The site is now the National Civil Rights Museum.
Business and Medicine
- 1916: Clarence Saunders opens Piggly Wiggly, the first self-service grocery store
- 1952: Kemmons Wilson opens the first Holiday Inn
- 1962: Danny Thomas founds St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
- 1973: FedEx begins overnight operations in Memphis
- 1979: AutoZone is founded in Memphis
Historic Sites to Visit
- Beale Street Historic District
- National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel
- Sun Studio
- Stax Museum of American Soul Music
- Graceland
- Cotton Row Historic District
- Central Gardens and Evergreen historic neighborhoods in Midtown
