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- 1.1 miles to city center. Address: 405 Mulberry St. 2 hours to Half Day. TIME TO SPEND. Recent travelers agreed the National Civil Rights Museum should be at the top of anyone's list of things to see in Memphis.
- 0.5 miles to city center. Address: Beale Street. Free, Neighborhood/Area. TYPE. 2 hours to Half Day. TIME TO SPEND.
- 0.3 miles to city center. Address: 706 Union Ave. Tours, Sightseeing. TYPE. 1 to 2 hours. TIME TO SPEND.
- Address: 6903 Great View Dr N. Free, Parks and Gardens, Recreation. TYPE. 2 hours to Half Day. TIME TO SPEND.
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County, in the southwesternmost part of the state, and is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, [7] Memphis is the second-most populous city in Tennessee after Nashville . Memphis is the fifth-most populous city in ...
Explore more than 60 unique attractions in Memphis, Tennessee, from Elvis Presley's Graceland to the National Civil Rights Museum. Find tips, guides and deals for your #Soultrip to the home of rock and roll, soul music and barbecue.
Discover the best experiences and activities in Memphis, Tennessee, from music and nightlife to civil rights and barbecue. Find hotel deals, events, festivals, attractions and more for your Memphis vacation.
- Overview
- History
- The contemporary city
Memphis, city, seat (1819) of Shelby county, extreme southwestern Tennessee, U.S. It lies on the Chickasaw bluffs above the Mississippi River where the borders of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee meet. Memphis is Tennessee’s most populous city and is at the centre of the state’s second largest metropolitan area. Aside from West Memphis, Arkansa...
Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto visited the area in 1541. French (1739) and Spanish (1795) forts briefly existed on the site, and in 1797 the United States built Fort Adams there. Memphis was founded in 1819 on land previously inhabited by Chickasaw Indians. Andrew Jackson, later U.S. president, was one of its founders. Memphis was named for the ancient Egyptian city (meaning “Place of Good Abode”).
Memphis grew rapidly with the expansion of cotton growing in the South and because of its transportation facilities by railroad and river. It was incorporated in 1826. A Confederate military centre early in the American Civil War, it was captured by a Union gunboat force on June 6, 1862, and remained occupied until the end of the war. One of the country’s worst race riots took place there in May 1866.
Memphis’s central location has helped make it one of the largest distribution centres in the United States. Its international airport is the world’s second busiest cargo airport (after Hong Kong’s), and the city is among the nation’s largest inland river ports. Extensive rail and highway facilities and the headquarters of major freight corporations contribute to the importance of the industry. Memphis is a major world cotton market and a world leader in hardwood trading and processing and soybean processing. The city serves an agricultural area noted for livestock, cotton, soybeans, corn (maize), feed grains, and forest products and has agricultural research and food processing industries. It is an important wholesale centre. Manufactures include electronics, medical products and equipment, and paper products. Services (including health care, banking and finance, government, and education), tourism and convention business, and high-technology industries also contribute to the economy. Educational institutions in Memphis include Rhodes College (1848; Presbyterian), LeMoyne-Owen College (1871), Christian Brothers University (1871; Roman Catholic), University of Memphis (1912), Southwest Tennessee Community College (established in 2000 by the merger of the State Technical Institute at Memphis and Shelby State Community College), Memphis College of Art (1936), and the health science centre of the University of Tennessee.
Memphis is one of the birthplaces of blues music and is associated particularly with composer W.C. Handy, who immortalized the city’s Beale Street in one of his songs. Handy’s home is preserved as a museum, and modern Beale Street is a popular entertainment district, with nightclubs, restaurants, shops, live music, and other attractions. B.B. King also occupies a central place in the history of the blues in Memphis. A blues festival is held annually in August, and other events throughout the year celebrate the city’s musical heritage. Memphis has also been called the birthplace of rock and roll. Elvis Presley was one of many musicians who launched careers from Memphis’s Sun Studio. After Presley’s death in 1977, his city mansion and burial site, Graceland, became a shrine (opened to the public for tours in 1982). Memphis made a huge contribution to the development of soul music as well, with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and Al Green being just a few of the significant soul artists who recorded in Memphis or called it home.
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Memphis has a symphony orchestra, ballet troupe, and opera company, as well as several theatre organizations. The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (1916) is the state’s oldest; the Memphis Pink Palace Museum includes a planetarium and cultural and historical exhibits. Historic sites include the Hunt-Phelan Home (1828) and the Burkle Estate/Slavehaven (1849), a station on the Underground Railroad. The Center for Southern Folklore is devoted to the people and culture of the South. Sun Studio offers tours, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music is located on the site of the Stax recording studio and operates an adjacent music school. Also located in the city is the Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum, which was developed in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. A park on Mud Island, in the Mississippi, includes a five-block-long scale model of the river. The 32-story stainless-steel Pyramid Arena hosts sports events, concerts, and shows. FedExForum (opened 2004) houses the Grizzlies, the city’s professional basketball team. The Memphis in May International Festival is an annual month-long event devoted to a different country each year. Africa in April is an annual festival celebrating African American culture.
A U.S. Navy facility is located in Millington to the north. Chucalissa, a prehistoric Native American village and archaeological museum, is in T.O. Fuller State Park in southwestern Memphis, and Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park is north of the city.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Dec 26, 2023 · Discover the best places to visit in Memphis, from the home of Elvis Presley to the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. Explore iconic attractions like Graceland, Sun Studio, and Beale Street, as well as historic sites like the National Civil Rights Museum and the Lorraine Motel. Learn about the city's music, history, and culture with interactive displays and tours.
Discover the Home of Blues, Soul and Rock 'n' Roll, where Elvis Presley lived and Martin Luther King Jr. died. Explore Memphis's attractions, from the Peabody ducks to the Bass Pro Pyramid, and enjoy its music, barbecue and hospitality.
