Memphis Tennessee History Law And Government Geography

Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 650,100 within the city limits, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee, United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in. The city is known for blues music and barbecueBarbecue is a method of cooking food with indirect heat and smoke, or the end-result of cooking by this method. It is usually cooked in a covered environment heated by an outdoor open flame of wood, charcoal, natural gas or propane. Restaurant barbecue ma.

It is on Lower Chickasaw Bluff above the Mississippi RiverThis page is about the river in the United States; for other uses, see Mississippi River (disambiguation). The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. Taken t, at the mouth of the Wolf RiverThe Wolf River is a small river of West Tennessee and Mississippi. It rises near Holly Springs, Mississippi and flows northwest into Tennessee, draining a large portion of Memphis and northern and eastern Shelby County before entering the Mississippi Rive.

Interstate highways I-40 and I-55 (along with rail lines) cross the Mississippi at Memphis into the state of ArkansasArkansas [akns] is a southern state in the southern United States. The 2000 census was 2,673,400. postal abbreviation is AR. It was admitted in 1836. USS Arkansas was named in honor of this state. History The early French explorers of the state gave it it.

1 History

Memphis was settled by the Chickasaw tribe. The Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, is believed to have visited what is now the Memphis area. The French built Fort Prudhomme in the vicinity. The city was founded in 1819 and incorporated as a city in 1826. At the conclusion of the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862 during the American Civil War, Union forces captured Memphis from Confederate control. A yellow fever epidemic in 1870 greatly reduced the population for many years thereafter. In 1897, Memphis' pyramid-shaped pavilion was a conspicuous part of the Tennessee Centennial exposition. From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a hotbed of machine politics under the direction of E. H. "Boss" Crump.

2 Law and government

Since 1966, Memphis has been governed by the "weak mayor" form of mayor-council government. The new city charter provided for the election of a mayor and thirteen council members, six elected at large from throughout the city and seven elected from geographic districts. In 1995, the council adopted a new district plan which changed council positions to all districts. This plan provides for nine districts, seven with one representative each and two districts with three representatives each.

The current mayor of Memphis is Dr. W. W. Herenton. Dr. Herenton is currently serving his fourth consecutive term as Mayor. He was elected for the first time in 1991, when he became Memphis' first black mayor. Prior to his election, Dr. Herenton served for 12 years as the superintendent of Memphis City Schools .

See also: List of mayors of Memphis

3 Geography

Memphis is located at 35°7'3" North, 89°58'16" West (35.117365, -89.971068) ¹. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 763.4 km² (294.8 mi²). 723.4 km² (279.3 mi²) of it is land and 40.0 km² (15.4 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 5.24% water.

Major Memphis parks include Tom Lee Park, Audubon Park, Overton Park and the Memphis Botanic Garden .

3.1 Bridges

Name	Nickname	Date Opened
Frisco		12 May, 1892
Harahan		14 July, 1916
Memphis & Arkansas	"Old Bridge"	17 December, 1949
Hernando De Soto	"New Bridge"	2 August, 1973

3.2 Tallest Buildings

Name	Stories	Height (in feet)
100 North Main	37	430
Commerce Square	31	396
Sterick Building	31	365
Clark Tower	32	365
Morgan Keegan Tower	23	341

4 Economy

Memphis is a center of manufacture of textiles, heating equipment, pianos, and automobile and truck parts. It is also the headquarters of FedEx shipping.

Because of its status as the primary hub for FedEx, Memphis International Airport is currently the world's busiest cargo airport in terms of tonnage.

Memphis' Division of Light, Gas and Water ("MLGW") is one of the largest municipal utitilites in the United States.

4.1 Fortune 500 Companies

4.2 Other Important Companies

Belz Enterprises
Guardsmark
Hohenberg Bros. Co.

5 Communications and Media

5.1 Newspapers

The Commercial Appeal
Memphis Business Journal
Memphis Flyer
Memphis Tri-State Defender

6 Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 650,100 people, 250,721 households, and 158,455 families residing in the city. The population density is 898.6/km² (2,327.4/mi²). There are 271,552 housing units at an average density of 375.4/km² (972.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 34.41% White, 61.41% African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.45% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. 2.97% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 250,721 households out of which 31.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% are married couples living together, 23.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% are non-families. 30.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.52 and the average family size is 3.18.

In the city the population is spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 84.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $32,285, and the median income for a family is $37,767. Males have a median income of $31,236 versus $25,183 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,838. 20.6% of the population and 17.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 30.1% of those under the age of 18 and 15.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

7 Sites of Interest

Tourists come from all over the world to see Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. Sun studios, where Elvis first recorded "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", rock n roll,is located in the city also. Other famous musicians who got their start at Sun include Johnny Cash, Rufus Thomas, Charlie Rich, Howlin' Wolf, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Blues fans can head down to Beale Street, where a young B.B. King used to play his guitar, and occasionally still appears at a club bearing his name and partly owned by him.

The National Civil Rights Museum is in the former Lorraine Motel, where the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

There is Libertyland Amusement Park and the adjacent Liberty Bowl and Memphis Children's Museum, Mud Island, Detour Memphis - an art and performing space, Lichterman Nature Center, the Pink Palace Museum, The Pyramid, The Memphis Zoo, the Memphis Queen riverboat.

The Mid-South Fair comes to the city every fall, and every May there is the Memphis in May . Each year, the city honors a foreign country, and each weekend hosts a special event, including the World Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest and the Music Festival.

Also, there is the Stax Museum, the Museum of American Soul Music. The museum is home to an amazing collection of artifacts, photographs, exhibits, commentary and, of course, music. Along with the legendary Stax Sound, the museum also spotlights the music of Muscle Shoals, Motown, Hi and Atlantic.

8 Colleges and universities

Christian Brothers University (founded 1871)
Le Moyne-Owen College (founded 1871)
Memphis College of Art (founded 1936)
Rhodes College (founded 1848)
Southern College of Optometry (founded 1932)
Southwest Tennessee Community College
University of Memphis (formerly Memphis State University) (founded 1912)
University of Tennessee Medical Units (founded 1911)

9 Sports teams

Memphis Redbirds ( Pacific Coast League / St. Louis Cardinals system) (Play at AutoZone Park)
Memphis Grizzlies ( NBA) (Play at FedExForum)
Memphis Blues ( Rugby)

10 Theatres

Playhouse on the Square
Circuit Playhouse
Theatre Memphis
The Orpheum
Theatre Works

11 Notable Natives

Actors, Directors and Musicians

Businesspeople

Jurists, Politicians and Activists

Sports Figures

Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway ( basketball)
Dr. Cary Middlecoff ( golf)

Military

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Other

Jerry Lawler ( professional wrestling)
- Ric Flair ( professional wrestling) was born in Memphis, but was adopted in infancy by a couple in the Twin Cities and grew up there.
Richard Halliburton (explorer and author)

Regions of Tennessee
East Tennessee \| Middle Tennessee \| West Tennessee \| Blue Ridge Mountains \| Ridge-and-valley Appalachians \| Cumberland Plateau \| Highland Rim \| Nashville Basin \| Gulf Coastal Plain
Nashville metropolitan area \| Memphis metropolitan area
Largest Cities
Bartlett \| Brentwood \| Bristol \| Chattanooga \| Clarksville \| Cleveland \| Cookeville \| Franklin \| Germantown \| Hendersonville \| Jackson \| Johnson City \| Kingsport \| Knoxville \| Memphis \| Morristown \| Murfreesboro \| Nashville \| Oak Ridge \| Smyrna
Counties
Anderson \| Bedford \| Benton \| Bledsoe \| Blount \| Bradley \| Campbell \| Cannon \| Carroll \| Carter \| Cheatham \| Chester \| Clairborne \| Clay \| Cocke \| Coffee \| Crockett \| Cumberland \| Davidson \| Decatur \| DeKalb \| Dickson \| Dyer \| Fayette \| Fentress \| Franklin \| Gibson \| Giles \| Grainger \| Greene \| Grundy \| Hamblen \| Hamilton \| Hancock \| Hardeman \| Hardin \| Hawkins \| Haywood \| Henderson \| Henry \| Hickman \| Houston \| Humphreys \| Jackson \| Jefferson \| Johnson \| Knox \| Lake \| Lauderdale \| Lawrence \| Lewis \| Lincoln \| Loudon \| Macon \| Madison \| Marion \| Marshall \| Maury \| McMinn \| McNairy \| Meigs \| Monroe \| Montgomery \| Moore \| Morgan \| Obion \| Overton \| Perry \| Pickett \| Polk \| Putnam \| Rhea \| Roane \| Robertson \| Rutherford \| Scott \| Sequatchie \| Sevier \| Shelby \| Smith \| Stewart \| Sullivan \| Sumner \| Tipton \| Trousdale \| Unicoi \| Union \| Van Buren \| Warren \| Washington \| Wayne \| Weakley \| White \| Williamson \| Wilson

Cities in Tennessee

Shelby County, Tennessee

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Regions of Tennessee
East Tennessee \| Middle Tennessee \| West Tennessee \| Blue Ridge Mountains \| Ridge-and-valley Appalachians \| Cumberland Plateau \| Highland Rim \| Nashville Basin \| Gulf Coastal Plain
Nashville metropolitan area \| Memphis metropolitan area
Largest Cities
Bartlett \| Brentwood \| Bristol \| Chattanooga \| Clarksville \| Cleveland \| Cookeville \| Franklin \| Germantown \| Hendersonville \| Jackson \| Johnson City \| Kingsport \| Knoxville \| Memphis \| Morristown \| Murfreesboro \| Nashville \| Oak Ridge \| Smyrna
Counties
Anderson \| Bedford \| Benton \| Bledsoe \| Blount \| Bradley \| Campbell \| Cannon \| Carroll \| Carter \| Cheatham \| Chester \| Clairborne \| Clay \| Cocke \| Coffee \| Crockett \| Cumberland \| Davidson \| Decatur \| DeKalb \| Dickson \| Dyer \| Fayette \| Fentress \| Franklin \| Gibson \| Giles \| Grainger \| Greene \| Grundy \| Hamblen \| Hamilton \| Hancock \| Hardeman \| Hardin \| Hawkins \| Haywood \| Henderson \| Henry \| Hickman \| Houston \| Humphreys \| Jackson \| Jefferson \| Johnson \| Knox \| Lake \| Lauderdale \| Lawrence \| Lewis \| Lincoln \| Loudon \| Macon \| Madison \| Marion \| Marshall \| Maury \| McMinn \| McNairy \| Meigs \| Monroe \| Montgomery \| Moore \| Morgan \| Obion \| Overton \| Perry \| Pickett \| Polk \| Putnam \| Rhea \| Roane \| Robertson \| Rutherford \| Scott \| Sequatchie \| Sevier \| Shelby \| Smith \| Stewart \| Sullivan \| Sumner \| Tipton \| Trousdale \| Unicoi \| Union \| Van Buren \| Warren \| Washington \| Wayne \| Weakley \| White \| Williamson \| Wilson

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