Memphis is a city in
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, both in terms of ...
, United States, and its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
. Situated along the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
, it had a population of 633,104 at the
2020 census, making it the
second-most populous city in Tennessee, the fifth-most populous in the
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
, and the
28th-most populous in the nation. Memphis is the largest city proper on the Mississippi River and anchors the
Memphis metropolitan area
The Memphis–Clarksdale–Forrest City Combined Statistical Area, TN–MS–AR (CSA) is the commercial and cultural hub of the Mid-South or Ark-Miss-Tenn. The census-defined combined statistical area covers eleven counties in three states, Tenne ...
that includes parts of
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
and
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, the
45th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. with 1.34 million residents.
European exploration of the area began with Spanish conquistador
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...
in 1541. Located on the high
Chickasaw Bluff
The Chickasaw Bluff is the high ground rising about above the Mississippi River flood plain between Fulton in Lauderdale County, Tennessee and Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee.
This elevation, shaped as four bluffs, is named for the Chic ...
s, the site offered natural protection from Mississippi River flooding and became a contested location in the colonial era. Modern Memphis was founded in 1819 by
John Overton,
James Winchester, and
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
. The city thrived due to its river traffic and cotton-based economy, becoming one of the largest cities in the
Antebellum South
The ''Antebellum'' South era (from ) was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practic ...
. After the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, it remained a key hub for the cotton and hardwood industries. Memphis is also notable for its role in the
American Civil Rights Movement; Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
was assassinated there in 1968, and the city is now home to the
National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built ar ...
, a
Smithsonian affiliate.
Memphis is one of the nation's leading commercial centers in transportation and
logistics
Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
. The largest employer is
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
, which maintains its global air hub at
Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
, one of the world's busiest cargo airports.
The
Port of Memphis
The International Port of Memphis is an active port in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is mainly located on President's Island, which is a peninsula. However, it also extends between miles 725 and 740 on both the Tennessee and Arkansas side ...
also hosts the fifth-busiest inland water port in the U.S. Memphis is also known for its
music scene, with
Beale Street
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...
central to the development of
Memphis blues
The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine sho ...
and a broader legacy that includes
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
, rock and roll, and
hip-hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
. Cultural landmarks include
Graceland
Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents Vernon and Gladys, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, grandson Benjamin, and daugh ...
,
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records la ...
, the
Memphis Pyramid
The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, and colloquially known as the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, is a pyramid-shaped building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United State ...
, and
Stax Museum of American Soul Music
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is a museum located in Memphis, Tennessee, at 926 East McLemore Avenue, the original location of Stax Records. Stax launched and supported the careers of artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, the Stapl ...
. The city is also famed for its
Memphis-style barbecue
Memphis-style barbecue is one of the four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the United States, the other three being Carolina, Kansas City, and Texas. Like many southern varieties of barbecue, Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made usi ...
and hosts the annual
World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. It is home to the
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...
of the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
and several colleges and universities, including the
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff Col ...
,
Christian Brothers University
Christian Brothers University is a private Catholic university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1871 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order.
History
Founded on November 19, 1871, it was estab ...
, and
Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Associa ...
.
History
Early history
Occupying a substantial bluff rising from the Mississippi River, the site of Memphis has been a natural location for human settlement by varying indigenous cultures over thousands of years. In the first millennium A.D. people of the
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a collection of Native American societies that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building la ...
were prominent; the culture influenced a network of communities throughout the Mississippi River Valley and its tributaries. The hierarchical societies built complexes with large earthwork ceremonial and burial mounds as expressions of their sophisticated culture. The
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
people, believed to be their descendants, later inhabited this site and a large territory in the Southeast.
Spanish explorer
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...
encountered the historic Chickasaw in this area in the 16th century, followed in the 17th century by French explorers led by
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and North American fur trade, fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada ...
,.
J. D. L. Holmes, writing in Hudson's ''Four Centuries of Southern Indians'' (2007), notes that this site was a third strategic point in the late 18th century through which European powers could control United States encroachment beyond the Appalachians and their interference with Indian matters—after
Fort Nogales (present-day
Vicksburg) and
Fort Confederación (present-day
Epes, Alabama
Epes is a town in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. Initially called Epes Station, it was incorporated as Epes in 1899. At the 2010 census the population was 192, down from 206 in 2000.
Geography
Epes is located near Jones Bluff, overlo ...
): "Chickasaw Bluffs, located on the Mississippi River at the present-day location of Memphis. Spain and the United States vied for control of this site, which was a favorite of the Chickasaws."
In 1795 the Spanish Governor-General of
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
,
Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet
Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet y Bosoist, 5th Baron of Carondelet (1748–1807) was a Spanish administrator of partial Burgundian descent in the employ of the Spanish Empire. He was a Knight of Malta.
Biography
Youth and military care ...
, sent his lieutenant governor,
Manuel Gayoso de Lemos
Don Manuel Luis Gayoso de Lemos y Amorín (May 30, 1747 – July 18, 1799) was the governor of Spanish Louisiana from 1797 until his death in 1799.
Biography
Early years and military career
Born in Porto, Portugal, on May 30, 1747, to Sp ...
, to negotiate and secure consent from the local Chickasaw so that a Spanish fort could be erected on the bluff;
Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas was the result.
Holmes notes that consent was reached despite opposition from "disappointed Americans and a pro-American faction of the Chickasaws" when the "pro-Spanish faction signed the Chickasaw Bluffs Cession and Spain provided the Chickasaws with a trading post".
Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas remained a focal point of Spanish activity until, as Holmes summarizes:
e Treaty of San Lorenzo or Pinckney's Treaty
Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed on October 27, 1795, by the United States and Spain.
It defined the border between the United States and Spanish Florida, and guaranteed the United S ...
of 1795 mplemented in March 1797 ad as its result that
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically used ...
all of the careful, diplomatic work by Spanish officials in Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
and West Florida
West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...
, which has succeeded for a decade in controlling the Indians .g., the Choctaws">Choctaws.html" ;"title=".g., the Choctaws">.g., the Choctaws was undone. The United States gained the right to navigate the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
and won control over the Yazoo lands">Yazoo Strip north of the thirty-first parallel.
The Spanish dismantled the fort, shipping its lumber and iron to their locations in Arkansas.
In 1796, the site became the westernmost point of the newly admitted state of Tennessee, in what was then called the Southwest United States. The area was still largely occupied and controlled by the Chickasaw nation. Captain Isaac Guion led an American force down the Ohio River to claim the land, arriving on July 20, 1797. By this time, the Spanish had departed. The fort's ruins went unnoticed 20 years later when Memphis was laid out as a city after the United States government paid the Chickasaw for land.
19th century

At the beginning of the century, as recognized by the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in
1786 Treaty of Hopewell, the land still belonged to the
Chickasaw Nation
The Chickasaw Nation () is a federally recognized Indigenous nation with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation descends from an Indigenous population historically located in the southeastern United States, in ...
. In the
Treaty of Tuscaloosa
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
, signed in October 1818 and ratified by Congress on January 7, 1819, the Chickasaw ceded their territory in Western Tennessee to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The city of Memphis was founded less than five months after the U.S. takeover of the territory, on May 22, 1819 (incorporated December 19, 1826), by
John Overton,
James Winchester and
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
.
They named it after the
ancient capital of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
on the
Nile River
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...
.
From the city's foundation onwards,
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
formed large proportion of Memphis' population. Prior to
the abolition of
slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...
, most Black people in Memphis were enslaved, being used as
forced labor
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
by white enslavers along the river or on outlying
cotton plantations in the
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
. The city's demographics changed dramatically in the 1850s and 1860s, due to waves of immigration and domestic migration. Due to increased immigration since the 1840s and the
Great Famine,
Irish Americans
Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry.
Irish immigration to the United States
From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
made up 9.9% of the population in 1850, but 23.2% by 1860, when the total population was 22,623.
[Walker, Barrington. (1998), "'This is the White Man's Day': The Irish, White Racial Identity, and the 1866 Memphis Riots", ''Left History'', 5(2), p. 36]
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
seceded from the
Union in June 1861, and Memphis briefly became a
Confederate
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
stronghold.
Union ironclad gunboats captured it in the naval
Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, and the city and state were occupied by the
Union Army for the duration of the war. Union commanders allowed the city to maintain its civil government during most of this period but excluded
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
veterans from office. This shifted political dynamics in the city as the war went on.
[Art Carden and Christopher J. Coyne, "An Unrighteous Piece of Business: A New Institutional Analysis of the Memphis Riot of 1866"](_blank)
Mercatus Center, George Mason University, July 2010, accessed February 1, 2014
The war years contributed to additional dramatic changes in the city population. The Union Army's presence attracted many
fugitive slaves
In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th centuries to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called fre ...
who had escaped from surrounding rural plantations. So many sought protection behind Union lines that the Army set up
contraband camps to accommodate them. Memphis's black population increased from 3,000 in 1860, when the total population was 22,623, to nearly 20,000 in 1865, with most settling south of the city limits.
[Ryan, James G. (1977). "The Memphis Riots of 1866: Terror in a black community during Reconstruction"](_blank)
''The Journal of Negro History'' 62 (3): 243–257, at JSTOR.
Postwar years, Reconstruction and Democratic control
The rapid demographic changes added to the stress of war and occupation and uncertainty about who was in charge, increasing tensions between the city's ethnic Irish policemen and black Union soldiers after the war.
In three days of rioting in early May 1866, the
Memphis Riots erupted, in which white mobs made up of policemen, firemen, and other mostly ethnic
Irish Americans
Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry.
Irish immigration to the United States
From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
attacked and killed 46 blacks, wounding 75 and injuring 100; raped several women; and destroyed nearly 100 houses while severely damaging churches and schools in South Memphis. Much of the black settlement was left in ruins. Two whites were killed in the riot.
Many blacks permanently fled Memphis afterward, especially as the
Freedmen's Bureau
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...
continued to have difficulty in protecting them. Their population fell to about 15,000 by 1870,
37.4% of the total population of 40,226.

Historian Barrington Walker suggests that the Irish rioted against blacks because of their relatively recent arrival as immigrants and the uncertain nature of their own claim to "whiteness"; they were trying to distinguish themselves from blacks in the underclass. The main fighting participants were ethnic Irish, decommissioned black Union soldiers, and newly emancipated African-American
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...
. Walker suggests that most of the mob was not in direct economic conflict with the blacks, as by then the Irish had attained better jobs, but were establishing social and political dominance over the freedmen.
Unlike the disturbances in some other cities, ex-Confederate veterans were generally not part of the attacks against blacks in Memphis. As a result of the riots in Memphis, and a similar one in
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
in September, Congress passed the
Reconstruction Act
The Reconstruction Acts, or the Military Reconstruction Acts, sometimes referred to collectively as the Reconstruction Act of 1867, were four landmark U.S. federal statutes enacted by the 39th and 40th United States Congresses over the veto ...
and the
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Yellow fever epidemics
In the 1870s, a series of
yellow fever epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
s devastated Memphis, with the disease carried by river passengers traveling by ships along the waterways. During the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, more than 5,000 people were listed in the official register of deaths between July 26 and November 27. The vast majority died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 40,000 one of the most traumatic and severe in urban U.S. history. Within four days of the Memphis Board of Health's declaration of a yellow fever outbreak, 20,000 residents fled the city. The ensuing panic left the poverty-stricken, the working classes, and the African-American community at the most risk from the epidemic. Those who remained relied on volunteers from religious and physician organizations to tend to the sick. By the end of the year, more than 5,000 were confirmed dead in Memphis. The New Orleans health board listed "not less than 4,600" dead. The Mississippi Valley recorded 120,000 cases of yellow fever, with 20,000 deaths. The $15 million in losses caused by the epidemic bankrupted Memphis, and as a result, its charter was revoked by the state legislature.
By 1870, Memphis's population of 40,000 was almost double that of Nashville and Atlanta, and it was the second-largest city in the South after New Orleans.
[ Crosby, Molly Caldwell. ''The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History''. New York: ]Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an American imprint founded in 1955 by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein owned by the Penguin Group unit of Penguin Random House.
History
Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Compa ...
, 2006. Its population continued to grow after 1870, even when the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...
hit the US hard, particularly in the South. The Panic of 1873 resulted in expanding Memphis's underclasses amid the poverty and hardship it wrought, giving further credence to Memphis as a rough, shiftless city. Leading up to the outbreak in 1878, it had suffered two yellow fever epidemics,
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
, and
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
, giving it a reputation as sickly and filthy. It was unheard of for a city with a population as large as Memphis's not to have any waterworks; the city still relied for supplies entirely on collecting water from the river and rain cisterns, and had no way to remove sewage.
The combination of a swelling population, especially of lower and working classes, and abysmal health and sanitary conditions made Memphis ripe for a serious epidemic.
Kate Bionda, an owner of an Italian "snack house", died of a fever on August 13, 1878.
Hers was officially reported by the Board of Health, on August 14, as the first case of yellow fever in the city.
A massive panic ensued. The same trains and steamboats that had brought thousands into Memphis, in five days carried away more than 25,000 refugees, more than half of the city's population.
On August 23, the Board of Health finally declared a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, and the city collapsed, hemorrhaging its population. In July of that year, the city had a population of 47,000; by September, 19,000 remained, and 17,000 of them had yellow fever.
The only people left in the city were the lower classes, such as German and Irish immigrant workers and African Americans. None had the means to flee the city, as did the middle and upper-class whites of Memphis, and thus they were subjected to a city of death.
Immediately following the Board of Health's declaration, a Citizen's Relief Committee was formed by Charles G. Fisher. It organized the city into refugee camps. The committee's main priority was to separate the poor from the city and isolate them in refugee camps.
The Howard Association, formed specifically for yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans and Memphis, organized nurses and doctors in Memphis and throughout the country.
[Hicks, Mildred. ''Yellow Fever and the Board of Health.'' Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, 1964.] They stayed at the
Peabody Hotel
The Peabody Memphis is a historic luxury hotel in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, opened in 1925. The hotel is known for the "Peabody Ducks" that live on the hotel rooftop and make daily treks to the lobby. The Peabody is a member of Historic Hot ...
, the only hotel to keep its doors open during the epidemic. From there they were assigned to their respective districts. Physicians of the epidemic reported seeing as many as 100 to 150 patients daily.
The Episcopal Community of St. Mary at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral played an important role during the epidemic in caring for the lower classes. Already supporting a girls' school and church orphanage, the Sisters of St. Mary also sought to provide care for the Canfield Asylum, a home for black children. Each day, they alternated caring for the orphans at St. Mary's, delivering children to the Canfield Asylum, and taking soup and medicine on house calls to patients.
Between September 9 and October 4, Sister Constance and three other nuns fell victim to the epidemic and died. They later became known as the Martyrs of Memphis.
At long last, on October 28, a killing frost struck. The city sent out word to Memphians scattered all over the country to come home. Though yellow fever cases were recorded in the pages of Elmwood Cemetery's burial record as late as February 29, 1874, the epidemic seemed quieted.
The Board of Health declared the epidemic at an end after it had caused over 20,000 deaths and financial losses of nearly $200 million.
[Ellis, John H. ''Yellow Fever & Public Health in the New South''. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1992.] On November 27, a general citizen's meeting was called at the Greenlaw Opera House to offer thanks to those who had stayed behind to serve, of whom many had died. Over the next year property tax revenues collapsed, and the city could not make payments on its municipal debts. As a result, Memphis temporarily lost its city charter and was reclassified by the state legislature as a Taxing District from 1878 to 1893.
But a new era of sanitation was developed in the city, a new municipal government in 1879 helped form the first regional health organization, and during the 1880s Memphis led the nation in sanitary reform and improvements.
Perhaps the most significant effect of yellow fever on Memphis was in demographic changes. Nearly all of Memphis's upper and middle classes vanished, depriving the city of its general leadership and class structure that dictated everyday life, similar to that in other large Southern cities, such as
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
, and
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. In Memphis, the poorer whites and blacks fundamentally made up the city and played the greatest role in rebuilding it. The epidemic had resulted in Memphis being a less cosmopolitan place, with an economy that served the cotton trade and a population drawn increasingly from poor white and black Southerners.
Late 19th century
The 1890 election was strongly contested, resulting in white opponents of the
D. P. Hadden D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation:
* Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank.
* Date of death, as an abbreviati ...
faction working to deprive them of votes by
disenfranchising blacks. The state had enacted several laws, including the requirement of
poll taxes
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
, that made it more difficult for them to register to vote and served to
disenfranchise
Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...
many blacks. Although political party factions in the future sometimes paid
poll taxes
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
to enable blacks to vote, African Americans lost their last positions on the city council in this election and were forced out of the police force. (They did not recover the ability to exercise the franchise until after the passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.) Historian L. B. Wrenn suggests the heightened political hostility of the Democratic contest and related social tensions contributed to a white mob
lynching three black grocers in Memphis in 1892.
Journalist
Ida B. Wells
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, sociologist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advance ...
of Memphis investigated the lynchings, as one of the men killed was a friend of hers. She demonstrated that these and other lynchings were more often due to economic and social competition than any criminal offenses by black men. Her findings were considered so controversial and aroused so much anger that she was forced to move away from the city. But she continued to investigate and publish the abuses of
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...
.
Businessmen were eager to increase the city population after the losses of 1878–79, and supported the annexation of new areas; this measure was passed in 1890 before the census. The annexation measure was finally approved by the state legislature through a compromise achieved with real estate magnates, and the area annexed was slightly smaller than first proposed.
In 1893 the city was rechartered with
home rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
, which restored its ability to enact taxes. The state legislature established a cap rate. Although the commission government was retained and enlarged to five commissioners, Democratic politicians regained control from the business elite. The commission form of government was believed effective in getting things done, but because all positions were elected
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
, requiring them to gain majority votes, this practice reduced representation by candidates representing significant minority political interests.
20th century

In terms of its economy, Memphis developed as the world's largest
spot
Spot or SPOT may refer to:
Places
* Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States
* The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia
* South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse
People
* Spot Coll ...
cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market, both commodity products of the Mississippi Delta. Into the 1950s, it was also the world's largest
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...
market. These animals were still used extensively for agriculture. Attracting workers from Southern rural areas as well as new European immigrants, from 1900 to 1950 the city increased nearly fourfold in population, from 102,350 to 396,000 residents.
Racist violence continued into the 20th century, with four lynchings between 1900 and the
lynching of Thomas Williams
Thomas Williams was an African-American man who was lynched by a mob in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,10 ...
in 1928.
A Tennessee Powder Company built an explosives powder plant to make TNT and gunpowder on a 6,000-acre site in
Millington in 1940. The plant was built to make smokeless gunpowder for the
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In May 1941,
DuPont (1802–2017)
Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to:
People
* Dupont (surname), a surname of French origin
* Du Pont family, one of the wealthiest families in the United States
Companies
* DuPont, one of the world's largest chemical compani ...
took over the plant, changed the name to the Chickasaw Ordnance Works, and produced powder for the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
. There were 8,000 employees. The plant was dismantled after the war in 1946.
From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a place of
machine politics
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hi ...
under the direction of
E. H. "Boss" Crump. He gained a state law in 1911 to establish a small commission to manage the city. The city retained a form of commission government until 1967 and patronage flourished under Crump. Per the publisher's summary of L.B. Wrenn's study of the period, "This centralization of political power in a small commission aided the efficient transaction of municipal business, but the public policies that resulted from it tended to benefit upper-class Memphians while neglecting the less affluent residents and neighborhoods."
The city installed a revolutionary sewer system and upgraded sanitation and drainage to prevent another epidemic. Pure water from an artesian well was discovered in the 1880s, securing the city's water supply. The commissioners developed an extensive network of parks and public works as part of the national
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of th ...
, but did not encourage heavy industry, which might have provided substantial employment for the working-class population. The lack of representation in city government resulted in the poor and minorities being underrepresented. The majority controlled the election of all the
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
positions.
Memphis did not become a
home rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
city until 1963, although the state legislature had amended the constitution in 1953 to provide home rule for cities and counties. Before that, the city had to get state bills approved in order to change its charter and other policies and programs. Since 1963, it can change the charter by popular approval of the electorate.
During the 1960s, the city was at the center of the
Civil Rights Movement, as its large African-American population had been affected by state segregation practices and
disenfranchisement
Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...
in the early 20th century. African-American residents drew from the civil rights movement to improve their lives. In 1968, the
Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Death of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, Echol Cole and Robert Walker. The deaths served as a breaking point for more than 1,300 African ...
began for
living wages and better working conditions; the workers were overwhelmingly African American. They marched to gain public awareness and support for their plight: the danger of their work, and the struggles to support families with their low pay. Their drive for better pay had been met with resistance by the city government.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...
, known for his leadership in the non-violent movement, came to lend his support to the workers' cause. King stayed at the
Lorraine Motel
The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built ar ...
in the city, and
was assassinated by
James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive who was convicted of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After the assassination, Ray fled to London and ...
on April 4, 1968, the day after giving his ''
'' speech at the
Mason Temple
Mason Temple, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is a Christian international sanctuary and central headquarters of the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal group in the world. The building was named for Bishop Charles ...
.
After learning of King's murder, many African Americans in the city rioted, looting and destroying businesses and other facilities, some by arson. The governor ordered Tennessee National Guardsmen into the city within hours, where small, roving bands of rioters continued to be active.
Fearing the violence, more of the middle-class began to leave the city for the suburbs.
In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Memphis's population as 60.8% white and 38.9% black.
Suburbanization was attracting wealthier residents to newer housing outside the city. After the riots and court-ordered busing in 1973 to achieve desegregation of public schools, "about 40,000 of the system's 71,000 white students abandon
dthe system in four years."
Today, the city has a majority African-American population.
Memphis is well known for its cultural contributions to the identity of the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...
. Many renowned musicians grew up in and around Memphis and moved to
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and other areas from the
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
, carrying their music with them to influence other cities and listeners over radio airwaves.
Former and current Memphis residents include musicians
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
,
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
,
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
,
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...
,
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
,
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...
,
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musician ...
,
Bobby Whitlock
Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memph ...
,
B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...
,
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...
,
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...
,
Booker T. Jones
Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artis ...
,
Eric Gales
Eric Gales (born October 29, 1974), also known as Raw Dawg, is an American blues rock guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy. Gales has recorded 19 albums for major record labels and has done session and tribute work. He has also co ...
,
Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...
,
Alex Chilton
William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...
,
Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...
,
the Sylvers
The Sylvers were an American R&B family vocal group from Watts, Los Angeles, California. They were active during the 1970s, recording the singles "Fool's Paradise", " Boogie Fever", and " Hot Line". Prior to becoming the Sylvers, the four eldes ...
,
Jay Reatard
James Lee Lindsey Jr. (May 1, 1980 – January 13, 2010), known professionally as Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was signed to Matador Records. He released recordings as a solo artist and as a member of the Rea ...
,
Zach Myers
Michael Zachary Myers (born November 7, 1983) is an American musician who is the guitarist (formerly bassist) for the hard rock band Shinedown. He is also the lead singer, guitarist and a founding member of the rock band The Fairwell, and a m ...
, and
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
.
On December 23, 1988, a
tanker truck
A tank truck, gas truck, fuel truck, or tanker truck (American English) or tanker (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquids or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars, which are also design ...
hauling liquefied
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...
crashed at the I-40/I-240 interchange in Midtown and exploded, starting multiple vehicle and structural fires. Nine people were killed and ten were injured. It was one of Tennessee's deadliest motor vehicle accidents and eventually led to the reconstruction of the interchange where it occurred.
21st century

On June 2, 2021, the remains of Confederate General and
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
leader
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...
were removed from a Memphis park.
On January 7, 2023, after a routine traffic stop, five African American police officers brutally beat a 29-year-old African American man,
Tyre Nichols. Nichols died from his injuries in the hospital three days later. Officer
body cam footage and local surveillance cameras captured the altercations, which were described as "heinous" and showed "a total lack of regard for human life", according to Memphis police chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis.
The officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and other crimes. The relatively rapid dismissal and prosecution of the offending officers were favorably perceived by Nichols's family, and Davis called it a "blueprint" for future incidents of police brutality nationwide. The incident also resulted in the disbanding of the city's "SCORPION" unit, which had been mandated with directly combating the most violent crimes in the city. All the officers charged with involvement in Nichols's death were members of the unit.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.76%, is water.
Cityscape
Downtown Memphis
Downtown Memphis is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee, and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south, and Interstate 240 (Tennessee), Interstate 240 to the east, where ...
rises from a bluff along the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. The city and metro area spread out through suburbanization, and encompass southwest Tennessee, northern
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, and eastern
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. Several large parks were founded in the city in the early 20th century, notably
Overton Park
:''Overton Park may also refer to the U.S. Supreme Court case, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe''
Overton Park is a large, public park in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee. The park grounds contain the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphi ...
in
Midtown and the
Shelby Farms
Shelby Farms is a public park located in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, in East Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. It is one of the largest urban parks in the US and the world, at a size of and covers more than five times the area of Centr ...
. The city is a national transportation hub and Mississippi River crossing for
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...
, (east-west),
Interstate 55
Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...
(north-south), barge traffic, Memphis International Airport (
FedEx's "SuperHub" facility) and numerous freight railroads that serve the city.
Riverfront

The Memphis Riverfront stretches along the Mississippi River from the
Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in the north, to the
T. O. Fuller State Park
T.O. Fuller State Park is a state park in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA. It consists of of mostly forest located in South Memphis on Mitchell Road. It is the only state park within the city limits and is suitable for wildlife.
The park ...
in the south. The River Walk is a
park system
A park system, also known as an open space system, is a network of parks and other green spaces that are connected by public walkways, bridleways or cycleways. The concept first emerged with the need to minimize fragmentation of natural envir ...
that connects downtown Memphis from Mississippi River Greenbelt Park in the north, to
Tom Lee Park
Tom Lee Park is a city park located to the immediate west of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, overlooking the Mississippi River. Encompassing about parallel to the Mississippi River for about , it offers panoramic views of the Mississippi River and ...
in the south.
Deannexation
In recent years, the city has decided to
deannex some of its territory. It has gone through a three-phase process to deannex five areas within the city limits, returning them to unincorporated Shelby County.
The first phase of deannexation occurred on January 1, 2020, when the Eads and River Bottoms areas returned to county jurisdiction. As a result, the Shelby County Sheriff is responsible for patrolling these former parts of Memphis. The first phase of the deannexation process reduced the city's size by 5% and its population by 0.03%.
Aquifer
Shelby County is located over four natural
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...
s, one of which is recognized as the "Memphis Sand Aquifer" or simply as the "Memphis Aquifer". Located underground, this
artesian water
An artesian well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of impermeable roc ...
source is considered soft and estimated by
Memphis Light, Gas and Water
The Memphis Light Gas and Water Division (MLGW) is a Municipality, municipal public utility serving the city of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States.
Description
MLGW is the largest thr ...
to contain more than of water.
Cancelled Byhalia Pipeline project
The Byhalia Pipeline proposed by
Plains All American Pipeline and
Valero Energy
Valero Energy Corporation is an American-based fuels producer mostly involved in manufacturing and marketing transportation fuels and other related products. It is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Throughout the United Sta ...
,
and set to begin construction in 2020,
was the subject of massive public and legal opposition to the project over concerns regarding possible contamination of the Memphis aquifer.
Notable figures voicing public opposition to the project included Memphis Congressman
Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to:
Sportspeople
* Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast
* Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian
* Steve Cohen (wrestler) (born 1963), South African wrestler be ...
, Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...
,
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
,
Danny Glover
Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...
,
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (; born April 26, 1958) is an American actor and director. He rose to prominence by portraying Gus Fring in the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2011), a role he reprised in ...
, and
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...
.
The pipeline's route, which was set to run through the historic Black Boxtown neighborhood,
[ raised concerns among the projects opponents about the racially disproportionate impacts that contamination from the pipeline would cause if completed.]
Construction of the pipeline was cancelled in July 2021 after months of activism and resistance from organizations including Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP), Protect Our Aquifer, the Memphis and Mid-South Chapter of The Climate Reality Project
The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...
, and other partnered organizations.
Climate
Memphis has a humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa'', Trewartha
Glenn Thomas Trewartha (1896 – 1984) was an American geographer of Cornish American descent.
He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with a Ph.D. in 1924. He taught at the University of Wisconsin.
He gave an address to th ...
''Cf''), with four distinct seasons, and is located in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
8a in downtown, cooling to 7b for much of the surrounding region. Winter weather comes alternately from the upper Great Plains
The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
and the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
, which can lead to drastic swings in temperature. Summer weather may come from Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
(very hot and humid) or the Gulf (hot and very humid). July has a daily average temperature of , with high levels of humidity due to moisture encroaching from the Gulf of Mexico. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms are frequent during summer, but usually brief, lasting no longer than an hour. Early autumn is pleasantly drier and mild, but can be hot until late October. Late autumn is rainy and cooler; precipitation peaks again in November and December. Winters are mild to chilly, with a January daily average temperature of . Snow occurs sporadically in winter, with an average seasonal snowfall of . Ice storms and freezing rain pose a greater danger, as they can often pull tree limbs down on power lines and make driving hazardous. Severe thunderstorms can occur at any time of the year though mainly during the spring months. Large hail, strong winds, flooding, and frequent lightning can accompany these storms. Some storms spawn tornadoes.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Memphis was on December 24, 1963, and the highest temperature ever was on July 13, 1980. Over the course of a year, there is an average of 4.4 days of highs below freezing, 6.9 nights of lows below , 43 nights of lows below freezing, 64 days of highs above , and 2.1 days of highs above .
Memphis temperatures dropped to -4 F during the 1985 North American cold wave
The 1985 North America cold wave was a meteorological event which occurred in January 1985 as a result of the shifting of the polar vortex farther south than is normally seen. Blocked from its normal movement, polar air from the north pushed in ...
and during the December 1989 United States cold wave
The December 1989 United States cold wave was a series of cold waves into the central and eastern United States from mid-December 1989 through Christmas. On December 21–23, a massive high pressure area pushed many areas into record lows. On t ...
.
Annual precipitation is high () and relatively evenly distributed throughout the year. Average monthly rainfall is especially high in March through May, and December, while August and September are relatively drier.
Demographics
For historical population data, see: History of Memphis, Tennessee
The history of Memphis, Tennessee and its area began many thousands of years ago with succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. In the first millennium, it was settled by the Mississippian culture. The Chickasaw Indian tribe emerged about the 1 ...
. According to the 2020 United States Census, the racial composition of the city of Memphis was:
* Black or African American (non-Hispanic): 387,964 (61.28%)
* White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
(non-Hispanic): 151,581 (23.94%)
* Hispanic or Latino
''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...
(of any race): 62,167 (9.82%)
* Asian (non-Hispanic): 11,503 (1.82%)
* Native American (non-Hispanic): 1,007 (0.16%)
* Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander
Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian A ...
(non-Hispanic): 141 (0.02%)
* Some other race (non-Hispanic): 2,425 (0.38%)
* Two or more races
Multiracial Americans, also known as mixed-race Americans, are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of mixed-race ancestry who self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. t ...
(non-Hispanic): 16,316 (2.58%)
2010
, there were 652,078 people and 245,836 households in the city. The population density was 2,327.4 people per sq mi (898.6/km2). There were 271,552 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 63.33% African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 29.39% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.46% Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants).
Although this term had historically been used fo ...
, 1.57% Native American
Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States.
Related terms and peoples include:
Ethnic groups
* Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
, 0.04% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.45% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino
''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...
people of any race were 6.49% of the population.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,285, and the median income for a family was $37,767. Males had a median income of $31,236 versus $25,183 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,838. About 17.2% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18, and 15.4% of those age 65 or over. In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the Memphis area as the poorest large metro area in the country. Jeff Wallace of the University of Memphis noted that the problem was related to decades of segregation in government and schools. He said that it was a low-cost job market, but other places in the world could offer cheaper labor, and the workforce was undereducated for today's challenges.
The Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 42nd largest in the United States, has a 2010 population of 1,316,100 and includes the Tennessee counties of Shelby, Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeas ...
and Fayette; as well as the northern Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
counties of DeSoto, Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
** Marshall railway station
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Is ...
, Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, and Tunica; and Crittenden County, Arkansas
Crittenden County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 48,163. The county seat is Marion, Arkansas, Marion, and the largest city is West ...
, all part of the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
.
The total metropolitan area has a higher proportion of whites and a higher per capita income than the population in the city. The 2010 census shows that the Memphis metro area is close to a majority-minority
A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population.
Term ...
population:
the white population is 47.9 percent of the eight-county area's 1,316,100 residents. The non-Hispanic white population, a designation frequently used in census reports, was 46.2 percent of the total. The African American percentage was 45.7. For several decades, the Memphis metro area has had the highest percentage of black population among the nation's large metropolitan areas. The area has seemed on a path to become the nation's first metro area of one million or more with a majority black population.
In a reverse trend of the Great Migration, numerous African Americans and other minorities have moved into DeSoto County, and blacks have followed suburban trends, moving into the suburbs of Shelby County.
The top countries of origin for Memphis' immigrants in 2015 were Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
and Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
Religion
An 1870 map of Memphis shows religious buildings of the Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
, Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, Episcopal
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United States ...
, Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
, Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
, Congregational
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
, and other Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...
s, and a Jewish congregation. In 2009, places of worship exist for Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s, Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
s, Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
s, and Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s.
The international headquarters of the Church of God in Christ
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism, Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi ...
, the largest Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
denomination in the United States, is located in Memphis. Its Mason Temple
Mason Temple, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is a Christian international sanctuary and central headquarters of the Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal group in the world. The building was named for Bishop Charles ...
was named after the denomination's founder, Charles Harrison Mason
Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Sr. (September 8, 1864 – November 17, 1961) was an American Holiness–Pentecostal pastor and minister. He was the founder and first Senior Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, based in Memphis, Tennessee. It d ...
. This auditorium is where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
gave his noted "" speech in April 1968, the night before he was assassinated at his motel. The National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built ar ...
, located in Memphis at the Lorraine Motel and other buildings, has an annual ceremony at Mason's Temple of Deliverance where it honors people with Freedom Awards.
Bellevue Baptist Church
Bellevue Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch in the Cordova area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Bellevue was once the largest church in the Memphis area. Bellevue's goals are to "Lo ...
is a Southern Baptist
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...
megachurch
A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...
in Memphis that was founded in 1903. Its current membership is around 30,000. For many years, it was led by Adrian Rogers
Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005) was an American Baptist pastor and conservative author. He served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979–1980 and 1986–1988).
Early life and educatio ...
, a three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
.
Other notable and/or large churches in Memphis include Second Presbyterian Church ( EPC), Highpoint Church[Highpoint Church](_blank)
Homepage (SBC), Hope Presbyterian Church ( EPC), Evergreen Presbyterian Church ( PCUSA), Colonial Park United Methodist Church, Christ United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
, Idlewild Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), GraceLife Pentecostal Church ( UPCI), First Baptist Broad, Temple of Deliverance, Calvary Episcopal Church, the Church of the River (First Unitarian Church of Memphis), First Congregational Church (UCC) and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.
Memphis is home to two cathedrals. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis
The Diocese of Memphis () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the western part of Tennessee in the United States.
The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis. The ...
, and St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee
The Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee is the diocese of the Episcopal Church that geographically coincides with the political region known as the Grand Division of West Tennessee. The geographic range of the Diocese of West Tennessee was orig ...
.
Memphis is home to Temple Israel, a Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
synagogue that has approximately 7,000 members, making it one of the largest Reform synagogues in the country. Baron Hirsch Synagogue
The Baron Hirsch Synagogue (also Baron Hirsch Congregation), is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 400 South Yates Road, Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. Founded in , the congregation underwent tremendous g ...
is the largest Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
shul
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as Jewi ...
in the United States. Jewish residents were part of the city before the Civil War, but more Jewish immigrants came from Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Memphis is home to an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Muslims of various cultures and ethnicities.
A number of seminaries are located in Memphis and the metropolitan area. Memphis is home to Memphis Theological Seminary
Memphis Theological Seminary is an ecumenical seminary of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Although it is affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, it accepts and trains ministerial candidates from other denomi ...
and Harding School of Theology Harding School of Theology, known until 2011 as Harding University Graduate School of Religion, is located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is an entity related to the Christian private university associated with the Churches of Christ known ...
. Suburban Cordova is home to Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary
Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute located in Cordova in Shelby County, Tennessee (east of the City of Memphis). Dedicated to its mission of equipping biblical leaders, Mid-America offers fully accredite ...
.
Crime
In the 21st century, Memphis' crime rate has remained significantly higher than the national average. Memphis' gangs are a major reason for the crime crises in the city. Since the 2000s, it has consistently been recognized as one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S.
In 2023, Memphis set a homicide record with 397 homicides. New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, the nation's largest city with a population of 8.5 million, had a lower homicide count of 386 in 2023. Identity theft, carjackings and robberies were also happening at a highly concerning rate in the city after 2020. Crime was the primary reason 30,000 former Memphis residents decided to relocate outside the city between 2017 and 2022. Memphis' businesses are also leaving the city or closing down at a high rate due to rampant crime. Memphis' leaders are continually discussing and implementing strategies such as recruiting more police officers to hopefully lower crime in the city.
Economy
The city's central geographic location has aided its business development. On the Mississippi River and intersected by five major freight railroads and two Interstate Highways
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...
, I-40 and I-55, Memphis is well positioned for commerce in the transportation and shipping industry. Its access by water was key to its initial development, with steamboats plying the Mississippi river. Railroad construction strengthened its connection to other markets to the east and west.
Since the second half of the 20th century, highways and interstates have played major roles as transportation corridors. A third interstate, I-69
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canada–United States border, Canadian border in Po ...
, is under construction, and a fourth, I-22, has recently been designated from the former High Priority Corridor X. River barges are unloaded onto trucks and trains. The city is home to Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
, the world's busiest cargo airport, surpassing Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...
in 2021. Memphis serves as a primary hub for FedEx Express
FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's List of largest airlines, largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leadi ...
shipping.
, Memphis was the home of three Fortune 500 companies: FedEx
FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
(no. 63), International Paper
The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 39,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.
History
The company was incorporated January 31 ...
(no. 107), and AutoZone
AutoZone, Inc. is an American retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, the largest in the United States. Founded in 1979, AutoZone has 7,140 stores across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and the US Virgin Island ...
(no. 306).
Other major corporations based in Memphis include Allenberg Cotton, American Residential Services
American Residential Services (ARS) is a United States network of plumbing, and home and commercial heating and air conditioning (HVAC) businesses, operating under the trade name ARS/Rescue Rooter. The trade name came from the acquisition and m ...
(also known as ARS/Rescue Rooter); Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. is a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group with offices in the Southeastern United States and Washington, D.C. The firm was co-founded by James F. Baker, the father of Republican Representati ...
; Cargill Cotton, City Gear
City Gear is an American company that operates over 130 stores in the central region of the US.
City Gear was founded in 1978 under the name Shelmar Retail Partners LLC. It was created in and still operates out of Memphis, Tennessee. City Gear ...
, First Horizon National Corporation
First Horizon Corporation, formerly First Tennessee Bank, is a financial services company, founded in 1864, and based in Memphis, Tennessee. Through its banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank, it provides financial services through locations in 1 ...
, Fred's
Fred's Inc. (stylized in all caps) was a retail store chain headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, operating in 15 states in the southeastern United States. As of June, 2019 Fred's operated 396 locations, of which 155 were pharmacies, and the rem ...
, GTx, Lenny's Sub Shop
Lennys Grill & Subs®, formerly Lenny's Sub Shop®, is a quick serve sandwich franchise of Philadelphia-style sub shops focused on cheesesteaks and sub sandwiches. Lennys is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and has about 100 locations, mainly thro ...
, Mid-America Apartments
Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (MAA) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Memphis, Tennessee that invests in apartments in the Southeastern United States and the Southwestern United States.
As of December 31, 2020, ...
, Perkins Restaurant and Bakery
Perkins LLC (also known as Perkins Restaurant & Bakery or Perkins American Food Co on the locations' signage) is an American casual dining restaurant chain which serves breakfast and other homestyle meals throughout the day in addition to bakery ...
, ServiceMaster
ServiceMaster Brands is an American privately held company owned by Roark Capital Group that provides residential and commercial services. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, after moving there in 2020 from Memphis, Tennessee.
Br ...
, True Temper Sports
True Temper Sports is a manufacturer of sports equipment headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. They sell equipment for golf, ice hockey and lacrosse.
History
The Old Stone Forge of Wallingford, Vermont, founded in 1808, became the American Fork an ...
, Varsity Brands
Varsity Brands, Inc. is an American apparel company owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. It is primarily focused on academic apparel and memorabilia, with its operations split among three major subsidiaries, including Herff ...
, and Verso Paper
Verso Corporation, now Billerud Americas Corporation, was a North American producer of coated papers including coated groundwood, coated freesheet, and specialty products. The company restructured in 2016 following Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Verso ...
. Corporations with major operations based in Memphis include Gibson guitars
Gibson, Gibson's or Gibsons may refer to:
Business
* Gibson Appliance, a former American refrigerator manufacturer
* Gibson (guitar company), an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Greetings, ...
(based in Nashville), and Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew plc, also known as Smith+Nephew, is a British multinational medical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Watford, England. It is an international producer of advanced wound management products, arthroscopy products, ...
.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is one of 12 Federal Reserve System, regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the United States' central bank. Missouri is the only state to have two main ...
also has a branch in Memphis.
The entertainment and film industries have discovered Memphis in recent years. Several major motion pictures, most of which were recruited and assisted by the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission, have been filmed in Memphis, including '' Making the Grade'' (1984), ''Elvis and Me
''Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll'' is a 1985 memoir written by Priscilla Presley, with Sandra Harmon. In the book, Priscilla talks about meeting Elvis Presley, their marriage, and ...
'' (1988), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1988), '' Heart of Dixie'' (1989), ''Mystery Train
"Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a Memphis blues or rhythm and blues tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular rockabil ...
'' (1989), '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991), ''Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person (see below), trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery ...
'' (1992), ''The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag
''The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag'' is a 1992 American screwball comedy film directed by Allan Moyle and produced by Scott Kroopf. It stars Penelope Ann Miller, Eric Thal, William Forsythe, Cathy Moriarty and Alfre Woodard. Rock and roll reco ...
'' (1992), ''The Firm
The FIRM is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. First released in 1986, the video series is best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training.
History
In 1979, Anna Benson founded th ...
'' (1993), '' The Delta'' (1996), '' The People Vs. Larry Flynt'' (1996), '' The Rainmaker'' (1997), ''Cast Away
''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a desert island after his plane cras ...
'' (2000), ''21 Grams
''21 Grams'' is a 2003 American crime thriller film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is the second installment in the duo’s informal “Trilogy of Death,” preceded by ''Amores perros'' (2000) ...
'' (2002), ''A Painted House
''A Painted House'' is a 2001 novel by American author John Grisham.
Inspired by his childhood in Arkansas, it is Grisham's first major work outside the legal thriller genre in which he established himself. Initially published in serial form, t ...
'' (2002), ''Hustle & Flow
''Hustle & Flow'' is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer. The film stars Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler and pimp who dreams of becoming a rapper. The ensemble cast includes Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Ta ...
'' (2005), ''Forty Shades of Blue
''Forty Shades of Blue'' is a 2005 independent drama film directed by Ira Sachs. Starring Rip Torn, Dina Korzun, and Darren R. Burrows, the film follows a young Russian woman living in Memphis with an aging music producer who comes to quest ...
'' (2005), ''Walk the Line
''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies by the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash: '' Man in Black: His Own ...
'' (2005), '' Black Snake Moan'' (2007), '' Nothing But the Truth'' (2008), ''Soul Men
''Soul Men'' is a 2008 American musical comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sharon Leal and Sean Hayes, released on November 7, 2008. It was one of three Mac's films that were released after ...
'' (2008), and ''The Grace Card
''The Grace Card'' is a 2010 Christian drama film directed by David G. Evans. The film stars Louis Gossett Jr., Michael Higgenbottom and Michael Joiner. It was released on February 25, 2011, to 363 theaters, grossing $1 million in its opening weeke ...
'' (2011). '' The Blind Side'' (2009) was set in Memphis but filmed in Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. The 1992 television movie ''Memphis'', starring Memphis native Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress, singer and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama '' The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jef ...
, who also served as executive producer and writer, was also filmed in Memphis.
Arts and culture
Cultural events
One of the largest celebrations of the city is Memphis in May
Memphis in May International Festival is a month-long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival, which is saluting South Korea in 2025, honors a specific foreign country every year and features many events. The ''Beale Street Music Fest ...
. The month-long series of events promotes Memphis's heritage and outreach of its people far beyond the city's borders. The four main events are the Beale Street Music Festival
Memphis in May International Festival is a month-long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival, which is saluting South Korea in 2025, honors a specific foreign country every year and features many events. The ''Beale Street Music Fest ...
, International Week, The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, and the Great River Run. The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is the largest pork barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
-cooking contest in the world.
In April, downtown Memphis celebrates "Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival", or simply Africa in April. The festival was designed to celebrate the arts, history, culture, and diversity of the African diaspora
The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...
. Africa in April is a three-day festival with vendors' markets, fashion showcases, blues showcases, and an international diversity parade.
During late May-early June, Memphis is home to the Memphis Italian Festival at Marquette Park. The 2019 festival will be its 30th and has hosted musical acts, local artisans, and Italian cooking competitions. It also presents chef demonstrations, the Coors Light Competitive Bocce
(, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci, or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to English bowls and French , with a common ancestry from anc ...
Tournament, the Galtelli Cup Recreational Bocce Tournament, a volleyball tournament, and pizza tossing demonstrations. This festival was started by Holy Rosary School and Parish and began inside the School parking lot in 1989. The Memphis Italian Festival is run almost completely by former and current Holy Rosary School and Church members and begins with a 5K run each year.
Carnival Memphis Carnival Memphis (formerly known as the Memphis Cotton Carnival) is a series of parties and festivals staged annually since 1931 in Memphis, Tennessee, by the centralized Carnival Memphis Association and its member krewes (similar to that of Mardi ...
, formerly known as the Memphis Cotton Carnival, is an annual series of parties and festivities in June that salutes various aspects of Memphis and its industries. An annual King and Queen of Carnival are secretly selected to reign over Carnival activities. From 1935 to 1982, the African-American community staged the Cotton Makers Jubilee; it has merged with Carnival Memphis.
A market and arts festival, the Cooper-Young Festival, is held annually in September in the Cooper-Young district of Midtown Memphis
Midtown is a collection of neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee, to the east of Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Downtown.
Midtown is home to many cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, and noteworthy pieces of architecture. The ...
. The event draws artists from all over North America and includes local music, art sales, contests, and displays.
Memphis sponsors several film festivals: the Indie Memphis Film Festival
Indie Memphis, located in Memphis, TN, is an arts organization that runs year-round programs that "inspire, encourage and promote independent films and filmmaking in Memphis." , Outflix, and the Memphis International Film and Music Festival. The Indie Memphis Film Festival is in its 14th year and was held April 27–28, 2013. Recognized by ''MovieMaker Magazine'' as one of 25 "Coolest Film Festivals" (2009) and one of 25 "Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" (2011), Indie Memphis offers Memphis year-round independent film programming, including the Global Lens international film series, IM Student Shorts student films, and an outdoor concert film series at the historic Levitt Shell
The Overton Park Shell (formerly ''Levitt Shell,'' ''Shell Theater, and Memphis Open Air Theater'') is an open-air amphitheater and museum located in Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis Presley gave his first paid concert t ...
. The Outflix Film Festival, also in its 15th year, was held September 7–13, 2013. Outflix features a full week of LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
cinema, including short films, features, and documentaries. The Memphis International Film and Music Festival is held in April; it is in its 11th year and takes place at Malco's Ridgeway Four.
Mid-South Pride
Mid-South Pride is a non-profit corporation located in Memphis, Tennessee. Mid-South Pride Memphis was founded in May 2003, to take over the work formerly done by Memphis Pride. Mid-South Pride produces the annual Pride Parade, Festival and Picnic ...
is Tennessee's second-largest LGBT pride event.
On the weekend before Thanksgiving, the Memphis International Jazz Festival is held in the South Main Historic Arts District in Downtown Memphis. This festival promotes the important role Memphis has played in shaping Jazz nationally and internationally. Acts such as George Coleman, Herman Green, Kirk Whalum and Marvin Stamm all come out of the rich musical heritage in Memphis.
Formerly titled the W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musician ...
Awards, the International Blues Awards are presented by the Blues Foundation (headquartered in Memphis) for blues music achievement. Weeklong playing competitions are held, as well as an awards banquet including a night of performance and celebration.
Music
Memphis is the home of founders and pioneers of various American music genres, including Memphis soul, Memphis blues
The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine sho ...
, gospel music, gospel, rock n' roll, rockabilly, Memphis rap, gangsta walking, Buck, crunk, and "sharecropper" country music (in contrast to the "rhinestone" country sound historically associated with Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville).
Many musicians, including Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
, Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
, Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...
, Roy Orbison, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...
, Shawn Lane, Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...
, Bobby Whitlock
Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memph ...
, Rance Allen, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, William Bell (singer), William Bell, Sam & Dave and B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...
, got their start in Memphis in the 1950s and 1960s.
Beale Street
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...
is a national historical landmark, and shows the impact Memphis has had on American blues, particularly after World War II as electric guitars took precedence over the original acoustic sound from the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
. Sam Phillips' Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records la ...
still stands, and is open for tours. Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison all made their first recordings there, and were "discovered" by Phillips. Many great blues artists recorded there, such as W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musician ...
, the "Father of the Blues".
Stax Records created a classic 1960s soul music sound, much grittier and horn-based than the better-known Motown from Detroit. Booker T. and the M.G.s were the label's backing band for most of the classic hits that came from Stax, by Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and many more. The sound was revisited in the 1980s in the The Blues Brothers (film), ''Blues Brothers'' movie, in which many of the musicians starred as themselves.
Memphis is also noted for its influence on the power pop musical genre in the 1970s. Notable bands and musicians include Big Star, Chris Bell (American musician), Chris Bell, Alex Chilton
William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...
, Tommy Hoehn, The Scruffs and Prix.
Memphis rap culture significantly influenced rap culture worldwide. Memphis rap became more mainstream in the 2000s. Memphis rappers such as Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...
, Juicy J, Lil Wyte, 8Ball & MJG, Gangsta Boo, Project Pat, La Chat, Young Dolph, Yo Gotti, NLE Choppa, Moneybagg Yo, GloRilla, Pooh Shiesty, and Key Glock are among the most popular rappers in the nation.
Several notable singers are from the Memphis area, including Justin Timberlake, K. Michelle, Kirk Whalum, Ruth Welting, Kid Memphis, Kallen Esperian, Julien Baker and Andrew VanWyngarden. The Metropolitan Opera of New York had its first tour in Memphis in 1906; in the 1990s it decided to tour only larger cities. Metropolitan Opera performances are now broadcast in HD at local movie theaters across the country.
Cuisine
Memphis is home to Memphis-style barbecue
Memphis-style barbecue is one of the four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the United States, the other three being Carolina, Kansas City, and Texas. Like many southern varieties of barbecue, Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made usi ...
, which is one of four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the United States. Memphis-style barbecue has become well known due to the Memphis in May#The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest held each May, which has been listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the largest pork barbecue contest in the world. Notable Memphis restaurants include:
* Alcenia's, a soul food restaurant that has been featured on Food Network and the Travel Channel
* Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous, founded in 1948, this barbecue restaurant located in an alley has been visited by countless celebrities
* Chef Tam's Underground Cafe, operated by Chef Tamra Patterson, winner of Guy's Grocery Games in 2018 and Chopped (TV series), Chopped in 2022
* Dyer's Burgers, which has used the same grease to deep-fry their burgers for over 100 years
* Earnestine and Hazel's, a historic dive bar visited previously by the likes of B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
, and Tina Turner
* In addition to barbecue, the cuisine of Memphis is also defined by:
** Fried chicken, such as that from Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken, a restaurant founded in nearby Mason, Tennessee in 1953 and has since expanded to over 35 locations
** Chicken wings as food, Chicken wings, served with Honey Gold, a sweet and spicy sauce made with honey, mustard, and cayenne
Visual art
In addition to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Brooks Museum and Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis plays host to two burgeoning visual art areas, one city-sanctioned, and the other organically formed.
The South Main Arts District is an arts neighborhood in south downtown. Over the past 20 years, the area has morphed from a derelict brothel and juke joint neighborhood to a gentrification, gentrified, well-lit area sponsoring "Trolley Night", when arts patrons stroll down the street to see fire spinners, DJs playing in front of clubs, specialty shops and galleries. Not far from South Main Arts district is Medicine Factory, an artist-run organization.
Another developing arts district in Memphis is Broad Avenue. This east–west avenue is undergoing neighborhood revitalization from the influx of craft and visual artists taking up residence and studios in the area. An art professor from Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Associa ...
holds small openings on the first floor of his home for local students and professional artists. Odessa, another art space on Broad Avenue, hosts student art shows and local electronic music. Other gallery spaces spring up for semi-annual artwalks.
Memphis also has non-commercial visual arts organizations and spaces, including local painter Pinkney Herbert's Marshall Arts gallery, on Marshall Avenue near Sun Studios, another arts neighborhood characterized by affordable rent.
Literature
Well-known writers from Memphis include Shelby Foote, the noted American Civil War, Civil War historian. Novelist John Grisham grew up in nearby DeSoto County, Mississippi, and sets many of his books in Memphis.
Many works of fiction and literature are set in Memphis. These include ''The Reivers'' by William Faulkner (1962), ''September, September'' by Shelby Foote (1977); Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, Peter Taylor's ''The Old Forest and Other Stories'' (1985), and his Pulitzer Prize-winning ''A Summons to Memphis'' (1986); ''The Firm (novel), The Firm'' (1991) and ''The Client (novel), The Client'' (1993), both by John Grisham; ''Memphis Afternoons: a Memoir'' by James Conaway (1993), ''Plague of Dreamers'' by Steve Stern (1997); ''Cassina Gambrel Was Missing'' by William Watkins (1999); ''The Guardian'' by Beecher Smith (1999), "We are Billion-Year-Old Carbon" by Corey Mesler (2005), ''The Silence of the Lambs (novel), The Silence of the Lambs'' by Thomas Harris, and ''The Architect'' by James Williamson (2007).
Tourism
Points of interest
* Beale Street
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...
– a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of the blues. Street performers play live music, and bars and clubs feature live entertainment.
* Graceland
Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents Vernon and Gladys, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, grandson Benjamin, and daugh ...
– the private residence of Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
* Memphis Zoo – features exhibits of mammals, birds, fish, and amphibians
* Peabody Hotel
The Peabody Memphis is a historic luxury hotel in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, opened in 1925. The hotel is known for the "Peabody Ducks" that live on the hotel rooftop and make daily treks to the lobby. The Peabody is a member of Historic Hot ...
– known for the "Peabody Ducks" on the hotel rooftop
* Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records la ...
– a recording studio opened in 1950; it now also contains a museum
* Orpheum Theatre (Memphis, Tennessee), Orpheum Theatre – features Broadway shows, Ballet Memphis and Opera Memphis
* The New Daisy Theatre – concert venue located on Beale Street
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...
* Mud Island Amphitheatre – concert venue
* Memphis Pyramid
The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, and colloquially known as the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, is a pyramid-shaped building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United State ...
– location of the largest Bass Pro Shops in the world, an observation deck, restaurants, bowling alley, aquarium, and hotel
Other Memphis attractions include the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, FedExForum, and Mississippi riverboat day cruises.
Museums and art collections
* National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built ar ...
– located in the Lorraine Motel
The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built ar ...
and related buildings, where Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
was assassinated. It includes a historical overview of the American civil rights movement and interpretation of historic and current issues.
* Memphis Brooks Museum of Art – the oldest and largest fine art museum in Tennessee; the collection includes Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionism, Impressionist, and 20th century artists.
* Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art – contains a large collection of Asian jade art, Asian art, and Judaic art.
* Dixon Gallery and Gardens – focuses on French and American impressionism, and contains the Stout Collection of 18th-century German porcelain, as well as a public garden.
* Children's Museum of Memphis – exhibits interactive and educational activities for children.
* Graceland
Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents Vernon and Gladys, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, grandson Benjamin, and daugh ...
– the home of Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
, it attracts over 600,000 visitors annually, and features two of Presley's airplanes, his automobile and motorcycle collection, and other memorabilia. Graceland is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
* Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium – a science and historical museum; it includes the third largest planetarium in the United States and an IMAX theater.
* Beale Street
Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, ...
– a public exhibit honoring Memphis musicians, singers, writers and composers.
* Mud Island, Memphis, Mud Island – a park with a walking trail featuring a scale model of the Mississippi River.
* Mississippi River Museum – a maritime museum on Mud Island that focuses on the history of the Mississippi River.
* Victorian Village, Memphis, Victorian Village – a historic district featuring Victorian architecture, Victorian-era mansions, some of which are open to the public as museums.
* The Cotton Museum – located on the old trading floor of the Memphis Cotton Exchange.
* Metal Museum – features exhibitions of metalwork and public programs featuring metalsmiths.
* Stax Museum – the former location of Stax Records.
* Chucalissa Indian Village – a Walls phase mound and plaza complex operated by the University of Memphis. The village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a National Historic Landmark. The Southeast Indian Heritage Festival is held there annually.
* Burkle Estate – a historic home now used as a museum of slavery and the anti-slavery movement.
Cemeteries
The Memphis National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in northeastern Memphis.
Elmwood Cemetery (Memphis, Tennessee), Historic Elmwood Cemetery is one of the oldest rural garden cemeteries in the South, and contains the Carlisle S. Page Arboretum. Memorial Park Cemetery (Memphis, Tennessee), Memorial Park Cemetery is noted for its sculptures by Mexican people, Mexican artist Dionicio Rodriguez.
Elvis Presley was originally buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, the resting place of his backing band's bassist, Bill Black. After an attempted grave robbing, Elvis's body was moved and reinterred at the grounds of Graceland.
Sports
The Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...
of the National Basketball Association is the only team from one of the "Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, big four" major sports leagues in Memphis. The Memphis Redbirds of the Triple-A East are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Memphis Tigers men's basketball, The University of Memphis college basketball team, the Memphis Tigers, has a strong following in the city due to a history of competitive success. The Tigers have competed in three NCAA Final Fours (1973, 1985, 2008), with the latter two appearances being vacated. The current coach of the Memphis Tigers is Penny Hardaway. Memphis is home to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the site of University of Memphis
The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff Col ...
football, the Liberty Bowl and the Southern Heritage Classic.
The annual St. Jude Classic, a regular part of the PGA Tour, is also held in the city. Each February the city hosts the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, which are Association of Tennis Professionals, men's ATP World Tour 500 series and Women's Tennis Association, WTA events, respectively.
Memphis has a significant history in pro wrestling. Jerry Lawler, Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jimmy Hart, Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart are among the sport's most well-known figures who came out of the city. Sputnik Monroe (wrestler), Sputnik Monroe, a wrestler of the 1950s, like Lawler, promoted racial integration in the city. Ric Flair also noted Memphis as his birthplace.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the former WFL franchise Memphis Southmen / Memphis Grizzlies sued the National Football League, NFL in an attempt to be accepted as an expansion franchise. In 1993, the Memphis Hound Dogs was a proposed NFL expansion that was passed over in favor of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers. The Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium also served as the temporary home of the former Tennessee Oilers (now the Titans) while the city of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville worked out stadium issues.
The city is also the site of Memphis International Raceway, which held NASCAR events from 1998 to 2009, when Dover Motorsports closed it. In 2011 it reopened under different ownership. It no longer holds NASCAR races, but the ARCA Menards Series, Arca Menards Series returned to the track in 2020.
Parks and recreation
Major Memphis parks include W.C. Handy Park, Tom Lee Park
Tom Lee Park is a city park located to the immediate west of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, overlooking the Mississippi River. Encompassing about parallel to the Mississippi River for about , it offers panoramic views of the Mississippi River and ...
, Audubon Park, Overton Park
:''Overton Park may also refer to the U.S. Supreme Court case, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe''
Overton Park is a large, public park in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee. The park grounds contain the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphi ...
including the Old Forest Arboretum of Overton Park, Old Forest Arboretum, the Lichterman Nature Center (a nature learning center), the Memphis Botanic Garden, and Jesse H Turner Park.
Shelby Farms
Shelby Farms is a public park located in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, in East Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. It is one of the largest urban parks in the US and the world, at a size of and covers more than five times the area of Centr ...
park, located at the eastern edge of the city, is one of the largest urban parks in the United States.
Politics
Beginning in 1963, Memphis adopted a mayor-council form of government, with 13 Memphis City Council, City Council members, six elected at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
from throughout the city and seven elected from geographic districts. Following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, civil rights activists challenged the at-large electoral system in court because it made it more difficult for the minority to elect candidates of their choice; at-large voting favored candidates who could command a majority across the city. In 1995, the city adopted a new plan. The 13 Council positions are elected from nine geographic districts: seven are single-member districts and two elect three members each.
Paul Young (Tennessee politician), Paul Young, a Democrat, is the city's mayor. He took office on January 1, 2024.
Since the late 20th century, regional discussions have recurred on the concept of consolidating unincorporated Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County and Memphis into a metropolitan government, as Nashville-Davidson County did in 1963. Consolidation was a referendum item on the 2010 ballots in both the city of Memphis and Shelby County, under the state law for dual-voting on such measures. The referendum was controversial in both jurisdictions. Black leaders, including then-Shelby County Commissioner Joe Ford (politician), Joe Ford and national civil rights leader Al Sharpton, opposed the consolidation. According to the plaintiffs' expert, Marcus Pohlmann, these leaders "tried to turn that referendum into a civil rights issue, suggesting that for blacks to vote for consolidation was to give up hard-won civil rights victories of the past".
In October 2010 before the vote, eight Shelby County citizens had filed a lawsuit in federal court against the state and the Shelby County Elections Commission against the dual-voting requirement. Plaintiffs argued that total votes for the referendum should have been counted together, rather than as separate elections. City voters narrowly supported the measure for consolidation with 50.8% in favor; county voters overwhelmingly voted against the measure with 85% against.[Clay Bailey, "Appellate court dismisses challenge of dual vote requirement for consolidated government"](_blank)
''Commercial Appeal'', December 31, 2014, accessed February 21, 2015 The state argued that with the election decided, the lawsuit should be dismissed, but the federal court disagreed.[Bill Dries, "Consolidation Voting Case Still Complex in 3rd Year"](_blank)
''Memphis Daily News'', January 6, 2014, accessed February 21, 2015
By late 2013, in pre-trial actions, both sides were trying to disqualify the other's experts, in discussions of whether regional voting revealed racial polarization, and whether voting on the referendum demonstrated racial bloc voting. "The experts for both sides have clashed on whether racial bloc voting is inevitable in local elections and whether that would require some kind of court remedy."
The defendants' expert, Todd Donovan, did not think that polarized voting as revealed for political candidates meant that "African-American voters and white voters have polarized interests when it comes to referendum choices on government administration, taxation, service provision and other policy questions." He noted, "In the absence of distinct political interests that create polarized blocs of referendum voters defined by race, there is no cohesive racial minority voting interest that can be diluted by a referendum."
In 2014, the federal district court dismissed the lawsuit, on the grounds that the referendum would have failed when both jurisdictions' votes were counted together. (In total voting, 64% of voters opposed the consolidation.) In the last week of December 2014, the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals upheld that decision, ruling that, ""In this election, the referendum for consolidation did not pass and would not have passed even if there had been no dual-majority vote requirement (with the vote counts combined)."
Before the referendum, the decision was made by the city and county to exclude public school management and operations from the proposed consolidation. As noted below, in 2011 the Memphis city council voted to dissolve its city school board and consolidate with the Shelby County School System, without the collaboration or agreement of Shelby County.["MAKING A REGIONAL DISTRICT: MEMPHIS CITY SCHOOLS DISSOLVES INTO ITS SUBURBS"](_blank)
, ''Columbia Law Review'', March 2012 The city had authority for this action under Tennessee state laws that differentiate between city and county powers.
Education
Primary and secondary
The city is served by Shelby County Schools (Tennessee), Memphis-Shelby County Schools (formerly Shelby County Schools). On March 8, 2011, residents voted to dissolve the charter for Memphis City Schools, effectively merging it with the Shelby County School District. After issues with state law and court challenges, the merger took effect the start of the 2013–14 school year. In Shelby County, six incorporated cities voted to establish separate school systems in 2013.
The Memphis-Shelby County School System operates 222 elementary, middle, and high schools.
The Memphis area is also home to many private, college-prep schools, including:
* Briarcrest Christian School (co-ed)
* Christian Brothers High School (Memphis, Tennessee), Christian Brothers High School (boys)
* Evangelical Christian School (co-ed)
* First Assembly Christian School (co-ed)
* St. Mary's Episcopal School (girls)
* Hutchison School (girls)
* Lausanne Collegiate School (co-ed)
* Memphis University School (boys)
* Saint Benedict at Auburndale (co-ed)
* St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School, St. Agnes Academy (girls)
* Immaculate Conception Cathedral School (Memphis, Tennessee), Immaculate Conception Cathedral School (girls)
* Elliston Baptist Academy (co-ed)
* Memphis Harding Academy (co-ed)
Postsecondary
Colleges and universities in the city include:
* The University of Memphis
The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff Col ...
* Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Associa ...
* Christian Brothers University
Christian Brothers University is a private Catholic university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1871 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic teaching order.
History
Founded on November 19, 1871, it was estab ...
* LeMoyne–Owen College
* Baptist College of Health Sciences
* Memphis Theological Seminary
Memphis Theological Seminary is an ecumenical seminary of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Although it is affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, it accepts and trains ministerial candidates from other denomi ...
* Harding School of Theology Harding School of Theology, known until 2011 as Harding University Graduate School of Religion, is located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is an entity related to the Christian private university associated with the Churches of Christ known ...
* Reformed Theological Seminary (satellite campus)
* William R. Moore College of Technology
* Southern College of Optometry
* Southwest Tennessee Community College
* Tennessee Technology Center at Memphis
* Visible Music College
* Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary
Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute located in Cordova in Shelby County, Tennessee (east of the City of Memphis). Dedicated to its mission of equipping biblical leaders, Mid-America offers fully accredite ...
* The University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Memphis also has campuses of several for-profit post-secondary institutions, including Concorde Career College, ITT Technical Institute, Vatterott College, and University of Phoenix. Remington College is a local nonprofit post-secondary institution.
The University of Tennessee College of Dentistry was founded in 1878, making it the oldest dental college in the Southern United States, South, and the third oldest public college of dentistry in the United States.
Media
Newspapers
Television
Nielsen Media Research currently defines Memphis and its surrounding metropolitan area as the 51st largest American media market. Despite Memphis proper's large size, Memphis has always been a medium-sized market; the nearby suburban and rural areas are not much larger than the city itself.
Major broadcast television affiliate stations in the Memphis area include, but are not limited to:
Radio
Terrestrial broadcast radio stations in the Memphis area include, but are not limited to:
FM stations
AM stations
Cultural references
Music
Memphis is the subject of numerous pop and country songs, including "The Memphis Blues" by W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musician ...
, "Memphis, Tennessee (song), Memphis, Tennessee" by Chuck Berry, "Night Train to Memphis" by Roy Acuff, "Goin' to Memphis" by Paul Revere and the Raiders, "Queen of Memphis" by Confederate Railroad, "Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis, "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam Tillis, "Graceland (song), Graceland" by Paul Simon, "Memphis Train" by Rufus Thomas, "All the Way from Memphis" by Mott the Hoople, "Wrong Side of Memphis" by Trisha Yearwood, "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" by Bob Dylan, "Memphis Skyline" by Rufus Wainwright, "Sequestered in Memphis" by the Hold Steady and "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn.
In addition, Memphis is mentioned in scores of other songs, including "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones, "Dixie Chicken (album), Dixie Chicken" by Little Feat, "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" by George Jones, "Daisy Jane" by America (band), America, "Life Is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane, "Black Velvet (song), Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles, "Cities (song), Cities" by Talking Heads, "Crazed Country Rebel" by Hank Williams III, "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2, "M.E.M.P.H.I.S." by the Disco Biscuits, "New New Minglewood Blues" and "Candyman" by the Grateful Dead, "You Should Be Glad" by Widespread Panic, "Roll With Me" by 8Ball & MJG, "Someday" by Steve Earle and popularly recorded by Shawn Colvin, and many others.
More than 1,000 commercial recordings of over 800 distinct songs contain "Memphis" in them. The Memphis Rock N' Soul Museum maintains an ever updated list of these on their website.
Film and television
Many films are set in the American city including, '' Black Snake Moan'', '' The Blind Side'', ''Cast Away
''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a desert island after his plane cras ...
'', ''Choices: The Movie'', ''The Client (1994 film), The Client'', ''Elvis (2022 film), Elvis'', ''The Firm
The FIRM is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. First released in 1986, the video series is best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training.
History
In 1979, Anna Benson founded th ...
'', ''Forty Shades of Blue
''Forty Shades of Blue'' is a 2005 independent drama film directed by Ira Sachs. Starring Rip Torn, Dina Korzun, and Darren R. Burrows, the film follows a young Russian woman living in Memphis with an aging music producer who comes to quest ...
'', '' Great Balls of Fire!'', ''Hustle & Flow
''Hustle & Flow'' is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer. The film stars Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler and pimp who dreams of becoming a rapper. The ensemble cast includes Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Ta ...
'', ''Kill Switch (2008 film), Kill Switch'', '' Making the Grade'', ''Memphis Belle (film), Memphis Belle'', ''Mississippi Grind'', ''Mystery Train
"Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a Memphis blues or rhythm and blues tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular rockabil ...
'', ''N-Secure'', '' The Rainmaker'', '' The Silence of the Lambs'', ''Soul Men
''Soul Men'' is a 2008 American musical comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sharon Leal and Sean Hayes, released on November 7, 2008. It was one of three Mac's films that were released after ...
'', and ''Walk the Line
''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies by the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash: '' Man in Black: His Own ...
''.
Many of those and other films have also been filmed in Memphis including, ''Black Snake Moan'', ''Walk the Line'', ''Hustle & Flow'', ''Forty Shades of Blue'', ''21 Grams
''21 Grams'' is a 2003 American crime thriller film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is the second installment in the duo’s informal “Trilogy of Death,” preceded by ''Amores perros'' (2000) ...
'', ''A Painted House
''A Painted House'' is a 2001 novel by American author John Grisham.
Inspired by his childhood in Arkansas, it is Grisham's first major work outside the legal thriller genre in which he established himself. Initially published in serial form, t ...
'', ''American Saint'', ''The Poor and Hungry'', ''Cast Away'', ''Woman's Story'', ''The Big Muddy'', ''The Rainmaker'', ''Finding Graceland'', ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'', '' The Delta'', ''Teenage Tupelo'', ''A Family Thing'', ''Without Air'', ''The Firm'', ''The Client'', ''The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag
''The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag'' is a 1992 American screwball comedy film directed by Allan Moyle and produced by Scott Kroopf. It stars Penelope Ann Miller, Eric Thal, William Forsythe, Cathy Moriarty and Alfre Woodard. Rock and roll reco ...
'', ''Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person (see below), trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery ...
'', ''The Silence of the Lambs'', ''Great Balls of Fire!'', ''Elvis and Me
''Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll'' is a 1985 memoir written by Priscilla Presley, with Sandra Harmon. In the book, Priscilla talks about meeting Elvis Presley, their marriage, and ...
'', ''Mystery Train'', ''Leningrad Cowboys Go America'', '' Heart of Dixie'', ''The Contemporary Gladiator'', ''U2: Rattle and Hum'', ''Making the Grade'', ''The River Rat'', ''The River (1984 film), The River'', ''Hallelujah! (film), Hallelujah!'', ''Elizabethtown (film), Elizabethtown'', ''3000 Miles to Graceland'', ''A Face in the Crowd (film), A Face in the Crowd'', ''Undefeated (2011 film), Undefeated'', ''Man on the Moon (film), Man on the Moon'', '' Nothing But the Truth'', ''Sore Losers'', ''Soul Men
''Soul Men'' is a 2008 American musical comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sharon Leal and Sean Hayes, released on November 7, 2008. It was one of three Mac's films that were released after ...
'', ''I Was a Zombie for the F.B.I.'', ''I'm From Hollywood'', ''The Grace Card
''The Grace Card'' is a 2010 Christian drama film directed by David G. Evans. The film stars Louis Gossett Jr., Michael Higgenbottom and Michael Joiner. It was released on February 25, 2011, to 363 theaters, grossing $1 million in its opening weeke ...
'', ''This is Elvis'', ''Cookie's Fortune'', ''Open Five'', ''The Open Road'', ''In the Valley of Elah'', ''Walk Hard'', ''My Blueberry Nights'', ''Savage Country'', and ''Two-Lane Blacktop''.
The television series ''Greenleaf (TV series), Greenleaf'', ''Memphis Beat'', ''Quarry (TV series), Quarry'' and ''Bluff City Law'' are set in the city.
Literature
Many works of fiction and literature are set in Memphis. These include ''The Reivers'' by William Faulkner (1962), ''September, September'' by Shelby Foote (1977); Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, Peter Taylor's ''The Old Forest and Other Stories'' (1985), and his Pulitzer Prize-winning ''A Summons to Memphis'' (1986); ''The Firm (novel), The Firm'' (1991) and ''The Client (novel), The Client'' (1993), both by John Grisham; ''Memphis Afternoons: a Memoir'' by James Conaway (1993), ''Plague of Dreamers'' by Steve Stern (1997); ''Cassina Gambrel Was Missing'' by William Watkins (1999); ''The Guardian'' by Beecher Smith (1999), "We are Billion-Year-Old Carbon" by Corey Mesler (2005), ''The Silence of the Lambs (novel), The Silence of the Lambs'' by Thomas Harris, and ''The Architect'' by James Williamson (2007).
Infrastructure
Transportation
Highways
Interstate 40 (Tennessee), Interstate 40, Interstate 55 (Tennessee), Interstate 55, Interstate 22, Interstate 240 (Tennessee), Interstate 240, Interstate 269, and Tennessee State Route 385, State Route 385 are the main expressways in the Memphis area. Interstates 40 and 55 cross the Mississippi River at Memphis from the state of Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. Interstate 69 in Tennessee, Interstate 69 is a proposed interstate that, upon completion, would connect Memphis to Canada and Mexico.
I-40 is a coast-to-coast freeway that connects Memphis to Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville and on to North Carolina to the east, and Little Rock, Arkansas, Oklahoma City, and the Greater Los Angeles Area to the west. I-55 connects Memphis to St. Louis and Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
to the north, and Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
to the south. I-240 is the inner beltway which serves areas including Downtown, Midtown, South Memphis, Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
, East Memphis, and North Memphis. I-269 is the larger, outer interstate loop immediately serving the suburbs of Millington, Eads, Arlington, Tennessee, Arlington, Collierville, Tennessee, Collierville, and Hernando, Mississippi. It was completed in 2018.
Interstate 22 connects Memphis with Birmingham, Alabama, via northern Mississippi (including Tupelo, Mississippi, Tupelo) and northwestern Alabama. While technically not entering the city of Memphis proper, I-22 ends at I-269 in Byhalia, Mississippi, connecting it to the rest of the Memphis interstate system.
Interstate 69 is proposed to follow I-55 and I-240 through the city of Memphis. Once completed, I-69 will link Memphis with Port Huron, Michigan via Indianapolis, Indiana, and Brownsville, Texas via Shreveport, Louisiana and Houston, Texas.
A new spur, Interstate 555, also serves the Memphis metro area connecting it to Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Other important federal highways though Memphis include the east–west U.S. Route 70 in Tennessee, U.S. Route 70, U.S. Route 64 (Tennessee), U.S. Route 64, and U.S. Route 72 (Tennessee), U.S. Route 72; and the north–south U.S. Route 51 (Tennessee), U.S. Route 51 and U.S. Route 61 (Tennessee), U.S. Route 61. The former is the historic highway north to Chicago via Cairo, Illinois, while the latter roughly parallels the Mississippi River for most of its course and crosses the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
region to the south, with the Delta also legendary for Blues music.
Roadways
Memphis maintains 6,800 lane-miles of city roadways. The city collaborated with Google Cloud Platform and SpringML in February 2019 to test machine learning (ML) to improve public services. A key focus is pothole identification using TensorFlow technology. Public Works personnel completed 63,000 repairs, with around 7,500 of those reported by citizens to 311.
Transit
The Memphis Area Transit Authority provides local transit services around Memphis, including the MATA Trolley heritage streetcar system. Intercity bus service to the city is provided by Flixbus, Greyhound Lines, and Jefferson Lines.
Railroads
A large volume of railroad freight moves through Memphis, because of its two heavy-duty Mississippi River railroad crossings, which carry several major east–west railroad freight lines, and also because of the major north–south railroad lines through Memphis which connect with such major cities as Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, Dallas, Houston, Mobile, Alabama, Mobile, and Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham.
By the early 20th century, Memphis had two major passenger railroad stations, which made the city a regional hub for trains coming from the north, east, south and west. After passenger railroad service declined heavily through the middle of the 20th century, the Memphis Union Station was demolished in 1969. The Central Station (Memphis), Memphis Central Station was eventually renovated, and it still serves the city. The only inter-city passenger railroad service to Memphis is the daily ''City of New Orleans (train), City of New Orleans'' train, operated by Amtrak, which has one train northbound and one train southbound each day between Chicago and New Orleans.
= Railroads, common freight carriers
=
* BNSF Railway (BNSF)
* Canadian National Railway (CN) through subsidiary Illinois Central Railroad (IC)
* CSX Transportation (CSXT)
* Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)
* Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), including subsidiaries Alabama Great Southern Railroad (AGS), Central of Georgia Railroad (CG), Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (CNTP), Tennessee Railway (TENN), and Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway (TAG)
* R.J. Corman Railroad/Memphis Line (RJCM)
* Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
= Railroads, passenger carriers
=
Amtrak (AMTK)
Airports
Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
is the global "SuperHub" of FedEx Express
FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's List of largest airlines, largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leadi ...
, and has the largest cargo operations by volume of any airport worldwide, surpassing Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...
in 2021.
Memphis International ranks as the 41st busiest passenger airport in the US and served as a hub for Northwest Airlines (later Delta Air Lines) until September 3, 2013. It had 4.39 million boarding passengers (enplanements) in 2011, an 11.9% decrease over the previous year. Delta has reduced its flights at Memphis by approximately 65% since its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines and operates an average of 30 daily flights as of December 2013, with two international destinations (Cancún – seasonally; Toronto year-round). Delta Air Lines announced the closing of its Memphis pilot and crew base in 2012. Other airlines providing passenger service are: Southwest Airlines; American Airlines; United Airlines; Allegiant Air, Allegiant; Frontier Airlines, Frontier; Air Canada; and Southern Vacations Express.
There are also general aviation airports in the Memphis Metropolitan Area, including the Millington Regional Jetport, located at the former Naval Air Station in Millington, Tennessee.
River port
Memphis has the second-busiest cargo port on the Mississippi River, which is also the fourth-busiest inland port in the United States. The International Port of Memphis covers both the Tennessee and Arkansas sides of the Mississippi River from river mile 725 (km 1167) to mile 740 (km 1191). A focal point of the river port is the industrial park on President's Island, just south of Downtown Memphis
Downtown Memphis is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee, and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south, and Interstate 240 (Tennessee), Interstate 240 to the east, where ...
.
Bridges
Four railroad and highway bridges cross the Mississippi River at Memphis. In order of their opening years, these are the Frisco Bridge (1892, single track (rail), single-track rail), the Harahan Bridge (1916, a road-rail bridge until 1949, currently carries double-track rail), the Memphis-Arkansas Memorial Bridge (Highway, 1949; later incorporated into Interstate 55
Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...
), and the Hernando de Soto Bridge (Interstate 40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...
, 1973). A bicycle/pedestrian walkway opened along the Harahan Bridge in late 2016, utilizing the former westbound roadway.
Utilities
Memphis's primary utility provider is the Memphis Light, Gas and Water
The Memphis Light Gas and Water Division (MLGW) is a Municipality, municipal public utility serving the city of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States.
Description
MLGW is the largest thr ...
Division (MLGW). This is the largest three-service municipal utility in the United States, providing electricity, natural gas, and pure water service to all residents of Shelby County. Prior to that, Memphis was served by two primary electric companies, which were merged into the Memphis Power Company.
The City of Memphis bought the private company in 1939 to form MLGW, which was an early customer of electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). In 1954 the Dixon-Yates contract was proposed to make more power available to the city from the TVA, but the contract was cancelled; it had been an issue for the Democrats in the United States House of Representatives elections, 1954, 1954 Congressional elections.
MLGW still buys most of its power from TVA, and the company pumps its own fresh water from the Memphis Aquifer, using more than 180 water wells.
Health care
The Memphis and Shelby County region supports numerous hospitals, including the Methodist and Baptist Memorial health systems, two of the nation's largest private hospitals. Until the 1960s and the end of Racial segregation in the United States, segregation, most hospitals only served white patients. One of the few hospitals for African Americans in Memphis in those times was Collins Chapel Connectional Hospital, whose historic building now houses a homeless shelter.
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, the largest healthcare provider in the Memphis region and the fourth largest employer as of 2018, operates seven hospitals and several rural clinics. Methodist Healthcare operates, among others, the Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, which offers primary level 1 pediatric trauma care, as well as a nationally recognized pediatric brain tumor program. Methodist Healthcare also operates Methodist University Hospital, a 617-bed facility 1 mile southeast of Le Bonheur.
Baptist Memorial Healthcare operates fifteen hospitals (three in Memphis), including Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, Baptist Memorial Hospital, and with a merger in 2018 became the largest healthcare system in the mid-South. According to Health Care Market Guide's annual studies, Mid-Southerners have named Baptist Memorial their "preferred hospital choice for quality".
The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, leading pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases, resides in Memphis. The institution was conceived and built by entertainer Danny Thomas in 1962 as a tribute to Jude the Apostle, St. Jude Thaddeus, patron saint of impossible, hopeless, and difficult causes.
Regional One Health is located in Memphis.
Memphis is home to Delta Medical Center of Memphis, which is the only employee-owned medical facility in North America.
Individual health insurance marketplace insurers are limited, with Bright Health and Cigna offering coverage in the area.
Notable people
Twin towns – sister cities
Memphis has four Twin towns and sister cities, sister cities, as per Sister Cities International:
* – Kanifing, Gambia
* – Kaolack, Senegal
* – Liverpool, England
* – Shoham, Israel
See also
* 1865 Memphis earthquake
* Greater Memphis Chamber
* Memphis Mafia
* Memphis Summer Storm of 2003
* List of tallest buildings in Memphis
* List of U.S. cities with large Black populations
* List of municipalities in Tennessee
* USS Memphis, USS ''Memphis'', 6 ships
Notes
References
Further reading
* Biles, Roger. ''Memphis: In the Great Depression'' (U of Tennessee Press, 1986).
* Dowdy, G. Wayne (2010). ''Crusades for Freedom: Memphis and the Political Transformation of the American South.'' Jackson, Mississippi, USA: University Press of Mississippi.
* Haynes, Stephen R. (2012). ''The Last Segregated Hour: The Memphis Kneel-Ins and the Campaign for Southern Church Desegregation.'' New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
* McPherson, Larry E. & Wilson, Charles Reagan (2002) ''Memphis''.
* Rushing, Wanda (2009). ''Memphis and the Paradox of Place: Globalization in the American South''. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
* Rushing, Wanda (2009). "Memphis: Cotton Fields, Cargo Planes, & Biotechnology", in''Southern Spaces'' (online, August 28), se
Memphis: Cotton Fields, Cargo Planes, and Biotechnology – Southern Spaces
accessed December 2, 2015.
*
*
* Williams, Charles (2013). ''African American Life and Culture in Orange Mound: Case Study of a Black Community in Memphis, Tennessee, 1890–1980.'' Lanham, Maryland, USA: Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington Books.
*
External links
Official website
Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau
Memphis Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control
Memphis, Tennessee,
1819 establishments in Tennessee
Cities in Shelby County, Tennessee
Cities in Tennessee
Cities in the Memphis metropolitan area
County seats in Tennessee
Planned communities in the United States
Populated places established in 1819
Tennessee populated places on the Mississippi River
Majority-minority cities and towns in Tennessee