Traveling the Smokies
Welcome To Memphis, Tennessee
"Home of the Blues & the Birthplace of Rock -n- Roll"
Memphis lies on the Chickasaw Bluffs on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. The area surrounding Memphis is rich in cotton and lumber. The climate in Memphis is a mild southern climate with an average 80s in the summer and 40s in the winter. Memphis is one of the principal wholesale and retail cities in the south. Its economic influence expands into its neighboring states. Memphis sits on the Tennessee-Mississippi state line. Its suburban areas include, Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Lakeland,, Southhaven, Whitehaven, Millington, Germantown, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. The central business district located in Downtown Memphis expands inland from the Mississippi River. Cotton Row, located along the waterfront, is the site of the Cotton Exchange and other offices where the cotton trade is conducted. Memphis' main industrial areas is located on a large island in the Mississippi River called the President's Island. Tall office buildings dominate the Memphis skyline. The city of Memphis built a multi-million dollar civic center which includes city hall and numerous other government building such as county, state, and federal; this complex was part of the city's urban renewal project. The Pyramid Arena is a one-of-a-kind designed structure that hosts a variety of events. However, The Pyramid Arena was vacated after the FedEx Forum was built. The City of Memphis negotiated with Base Pro Shops for a 20-year lease of the Pyramid Arena. In 2015, the Pyramid Area became home to Bass Pro Shops and was renamed: Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid. If your in Memphis, go check it out. There is something there for the whole family. A must see on your Memphis' List of Things To Do!
Economy
Memphis has one of busiest inland ports. Memphis is "America's Distribution Center" and is home to FedEx's Headquarters. Memphis's port ships over 11 million tons of cargo annually. The Memphis International Airport has FedEx's largest cargo operation in the world. It is a major transportation center with multiple points by air, rail, water and highway. Memphis a leader in commercial and industry; it has one of the largest wholesale and distribution centers in the South; it trading areas consist of six states; and it is one the world's largest markets for spot cotton and hardwood lumber as well as the distribution center for livestock, grains, and other agricultural products. By the end of World War II, industrial development became increasingly important part of Memphis' economy. Memphis to this day processes and manufacturers a wide range of goods from foodstuffs and chemicals to wood and paper products as well as electrical goods. Also Memphis is the south's largest livestock and meatpacking center.
Education
Memphis is nationally known for its extensive medical and educational facilities with Memphis Medical Center being one of the largest in the nation. St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital is also located in Memphis. Several institutions of higher education are located in Memphis: the largest, by far, is the University of Memphis, a branch of University of Tennessee, Crichton Collage, LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis College of Arts, Christian Brothers University, and Rhodes College. Memphis has a large public library system which includes the main library along with numerous branches. Also, Memphis has its own symphony orchestra, an opera theater, a repertory theater as well as its ballet company.
Attractions & Tours
Music
Memphis became one of the country's major recording centers. Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion was his home until his death in 1977 and Sun Studio (Birthplace of Rock -n- Roll) is where Elvis' recording career began in the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, a new sound hit the city of Memphis. This sound was a mix of blues, rhythm and blues and soul. Stax Records from 1959-1976 was one of the first recording studios to produce this type of music genre and was also known for promoting their artists. The Stax Museum of American Soul Music takes on a historical journey into the development of soul music and its artists, from its own recording company which also includes other notable recording studios. Located on the premise of the FedEx Forum (Home to the NBA Team, Memphis Grizzlies, and the University of Memphis' basketball team) is the Memphis Rock -n- Soul Museum established by the Smithsonian Institution. With Memphis known for being a well-known music center, one of the streets where a mixed of these "sounds" became famous is known as Beale Street, the best-known place W.C. Handy, the "father of the blues," wrote and played his music. As a tribute to Memphis' musical heritage a few events happen throughout the year: Beale Street hosts the Beale Street Music Festival in May and the Memphis Music Festival in September, the city of Memphis hosts The Blues Music Festival annually, and Elvis Week happens each August where the "King of Rock -n- Roll" is honored. The Memphis Cook Convention Center is the cities' largest complex. It is the site of Cannon Center for the Performing Arts which opened its doors in 2003 and became the home to the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Other events have preformed here such as opera, ballet, pop, and jazz concerts; touring theater productions and children's theater.
Civil Rights
Memphis is home to the site of the National Civil Rights Museum, it was established at the Lorraine Motel, which was the location of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1968 assassination. The museum - the first of its kind in the nation - tells the story in chronology order of the civil rights movement from the colonial period to the present. The museum expanded in 2002 to include the Main Street Rooming House where James Earl Ray was reported to fire the shot that resulted in Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.
Memphis Riverboat Cruise
Memphis Music Museum
& Hall of Fame
Memphis
Beale Street
Mississippi River
Elvis
Graceland
Rock -n- Roll
Peabody Hotel Ducks
Trolley
Steamboat
Sun Studio
Blues
Jazz
Memphis Zoo
Pro Bass Shop
Stax Museum
Civil Rights Movement
Soul Music
African American History
BBQ
Live
Music
Woodruff-Fontaine House
Graceland & Sun Studio
Touring Memphis & Beale Street
Art Gallery & Museums
The city's largest art museum, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art has exhibits which contains both European and American decorative and fine arts dated from the Renaissance period to the present. The Memphis Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium contains exhibits that examine cultural and natural history of the region. The Chucalissa Archaeological Museum hosted by the University of Memphis as an archaeological project. This museum sits on the site of a Native American Village which was established around 900 AD and was deserted in the early 17 century. The Art Museum of the University of Memphis display an African and Egyptian collections. The Art Museum Gallery features African American and Caribbean fine art. Do not forget to take your little ones to the Children's Museum of Memphis. The Dixon Gallery and Gardens includes a museum of decorative and fine arts with 20-acres of beautiful formal and woodland gardens surrounding the museum.
Animals & Nature
Want to take the family and explore the outdoors? The City of Memphis holds a keys: the Lichterman Nature Center (Museum of Science and History), a wildlife sanctuary, two state parks, and the Memphis Botanical Gardens which encompasses a conservatory, an arboretum, and a Japanese Garden. The Memphis Zoo and Aquarium offers visitors a petting zoo in addition to its aquarium. Besides the city's several parks, gardens and a zoo; Mudd Island, located on a 50-acre island in the Mississippi River, is one of the most unique of the city's parks. This particular park is dedicated to the study of the river as well as the music and arts the river has inspired.
Events & Festivals
The Memphis Motorsports Park hosts NASCAR's Bush and Craftsman Truck Series annually as well as other racing events throughout the year. In May, Memphis hosts International Festival which runs for the entire month; this festival includes the music festival on Beale Street, International Events by the chosen country being represented (each year a different country is chosen), the World's Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, and a Sunset Symphony to close out the festival on the last day.
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.. because your character is what you really are,.. while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
-Elvis Presley
Experience Memphis
"Then I'm walking in Memphis,
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale,
Walking in Memphis,
But do I really feel the way I feel?"
-Marc Cohn "Walking In Memphis"