Progress was capsized by the 1937 flooding of the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers, the worst single disaster socially and economically in American history to that date rivaling the combined effects of the floods of 1926-27 and the Dust Bowl drought of 1930-31. That event, following on the threadbare heels of the Great Depression, caused the evacuation and relocation of hundreds of thousands who had been living in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. The Memphis Fairgrounds housed the largest refugee camp, providing food, shelter, and medical attention to 60,000 people.

Memphis again fought back — and the music refused to die.

Sam phillips, a man with a dream and a tape recorder drawn to the musical phenomena on Beale Street, rented a small corner space at 706 Union in 1950 and launched Memphis Recording Service — precursor to Sun Studio, the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll. He named his record label Sun Records as a sign of his perpetual optimism.

Phillips, an open-minded businessman, welcomed anyone who wanted to record — including an 18-year-old teenager named Elvis Presley. The Sun Sound went on to launch a galaxy of talent that included Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich, and countless others.

Meanwhile, a Memphis neighborhood now known as Soulsville USA was cultivating another musical brand of Memphis talent that included Aretha Franklin, Calvin and Phinneas Newborn, Al Green, and a phenomenon that changed the culture of music forever to the tune of Stax Records.

What began as a tiny record store in an old movie theater in 1959 — the brainchild of Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton — grew to become one of the most important music recording studios on Earth, giving the world an incredible catalog of smash soul hits and the singers behind them: Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Albert King, Booker T. & the MGs, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and dozens of other artists.

In marched the mid 1960s with an escalation of social and economic changes, as the nation — particularly the South — wrestled with monumental, historic, often violent shifts in mindset and lifestyle, collectively known as the Civil Rights Movement.

The point of no return for Memphis happened on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in 1968 with the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an iconic, charismatic, and inspirational civil rights leader who spurred hundreds of thousands of black Americans to rally against the unjust discrimination afflicted upon them — to dream of the day when the nation would “hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

Immediately following Dr. King’s assassination, Downtown began deteriorating into desolate blocks of crumbling history as citizens fled from the violence, the uncertainty, and the confusion. The Peabody Hotel, Goldsmith’s, even Beale Street — all were abandoned, boarded shut, and left to die.

But Memphis refused to sing the blues. Actor Danny Thomas kept his promise to build St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Federal Express landed in Memphis with founder Fred Smith; the Cook Convention Center opened; and a pedestrian corridor called the Mid-America Mall opened along Main Street. The city was determined to come back. Again.

The revitalization and reopening of The Peabody, the “South’s Grand Hotel,” by the Belz family in 1981 ignited a smoldering synergy that fired up Downtown’s comeback. Beale Street battled back to life, followed closely by the reopening of the Orpheum. Jack Belz and Henry Turley built the award-winning Harbor Town community on Mud Island, and new attractions and developments opened over the next 20 years — Graceland, Mud Island River Park, The Pyramid, Soulsville, and Peabody Place, to name a few.

The Lorraine Motel was transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum in 1991, and Memphis elected its first black mayor that same year. AutoZone cast its vote of confidence when it relocated its world headquarters into the city. Business and residential developments kept trickling into the city. And then? The world was walkin’ in Memphis.

In the span of two decades, the marching mallards again paddled in the Peabody’s lobby. The Hunt-Phelan antebellum home was renovated into a restaurant, condos, and lodging. Central Station Amtrak passengers mingled with the building’s new residents and businesses.

Refurbished 1912–1940 trolleys clanged up and down Main Street with riders disembarking for the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, AutoZone Park baseball stadium, Gibson Guitar Factory, the Smithsonian Institution’s Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, FedExForum, and countless restaurants, art galleries, and retail destinations. Memphis in May became an international sensation, and Beale Street became the number one tourist destination in the state of Tennessee.

This progress brought an explosion of residential growth and new neighborhoods to the heart of the city at the turn of the 21st century. Downtown Memphis quickly grew into one of the largest urban neighborhoods in the South, with thousands of apartments, warehouse lofts, condominiums, and single-family homes fanning out in previously abandoned areas.

More than 30,000 people — and growing — call Downtown home. And along with the people came a growing list of convenient amenities and cultural offerings, including the Memphis Farmers Market in 2006.

The business of biotechnology got a shot in the arm with the implosion of the old Baptist Memorial Hospital in 2005, and Memphis remains on the fast track to becoming an internationally recognized biosciences center — locally and globally. The 6.5-acre UT-Baptist Research Park in Downtown’s Medical Center District is developing into a six-building research, incubator, and commercial center dedicated to the bioscience industry with a remarkable confluence of bio-partners that include medical device manufacturers, state-of-the-art bio warehouses, and the fastest global transportation system in the world.

Memphis music grew, as well. The rap anthem by Three 6 Mafia for the filmed-in-Memphis Hustle & Flow won the Academy Award in 2005 for best original song. That same year, Folk Alliance International made Memphis its headquarters and, two years later, home to their annual four-day, four-night folk music extravaganza. Memphis is in the process of reviving the historic Stax label, and the venerable International Blues Challenge plays on each year, attracting a growing number of musicians from around the world to play and compete in the Home of the Blues.

Film cameras kept rolling in the city known for its diverse talent pool, pleasant climate, historical scenery, and good ol’ Southern hospitality. Since 1985, feature movies such as The Firm, Hustle & Flow, The Rainmaker, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and The Client, to name a few, joined indies and television pilots and series that have made their “takes” around Memphis, thanks to a strong, committed Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission.

As 2009 dawns, the momentum continues in the city despite the dark cloud of global recession. Memphis, with its diverse economy bolstered by solid transportation-, distribution-, and medical– related industries, is moving ahead. The $33 million Beale Street Landing project is under way and will transform the city’s riverfront with a new docking facility, park, walkways, restaurants, and shops; Memphis International Airport flies high as the busiest cargo airport in the world; an extensive makeover is underway for Shelby Farms, the largest metropolitan park in the country; and the magic continues at Soulsville with the start of a $12 million Towne Center.

As it has since its beginning, Memphis faces the future with one eye on progress and one on the past. And as history has proven time and time again, there’s something magical about Memphis and its spirit — something that defines the city and its indefinable soul. Something that refuses to die.

1 2