Travel Guide Memphis

Located in the extreme southwest of the state, at the borders of Arkansas and Mississippi, Memphis is the second largest city in Tennessee. Its population is 655,000 (1,313,000 with its agglomeration). Named in reference to the imperial city of ancient Egypt, Memphis dreams the fans of Elvis. It is here that the King made his first musical steps, that he built Graceland where he rests today, and that he recorded his first tubes. It was here that blues, "invented" by W.C. Handy in 1908, found an anchor in Beale Street's animation, that soul was embodied in Stax studios and that white music and black music gave birth to rock. More recently, in 1997, it was in Memphis that young singer Jeff Buckley, who came here to recover and try to register his difficult second album, drowned in the Wolf River, which flows into Mississippi at Mud Island, at Beale Street level. Place of musical pilgrimage, therefore, but also of memory in the struggle of civil rights: It's also in Memphis, Lorraine Motel, that Martin Luther King found death. A buzzing city of history (s) which will be an unavoidable passage during your stay in the region. Add a certain charm made of old brick buildings and unusual architecture, a passion for the langueur of the famous Mississippi that flows peacefully and important events throughout the year. After the International Blues Challenge (late January-early February), one of the city's biggest festivals is Memphis in May. There are four things to be remembered: Beale Street Music Festival, International Week, World Championship Barbecue Contest Contest and Great American River Run. The Mid-South Pride Festival, one of the largest gay demonstrations in the south) autumn. Among the famous personalities of Memphis are the actor Morgan Freeman, Shawn Lane (guitarist), Lisa Marie Presley, and singer Justin Timberlake.If Beale Street is small and easy to walk on foot, a vehicle or trolley will be required to reach most of the city's scattered sights.For those who would then head to Mississippi State and the river delta, Memphis is the starting point for Mississippi Blues Trail.HistoryIn 1540, the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto explored the region that was then inhabited by the Chickasaws.In 1680, the French expedition of René Robert Cavelier de La Salle built Fort Prud 'homme, on the site of the present Memphis.In 1739 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville built a new fort, Fort de l 'Assomption, next to the old bastion of Fort Prud' homme.After the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the English moved to the site.Memphis was officially founded on May 22, 1819 by John Overton (lawyer), James Winchester (military) and Andrew Jackson (the 7 th President of the United States from 1829 to 1837). It quickly became a very important city due to commercial connections by Mississippi River and railway lines.Tennessee seceded with the Union in June 1861. The city was taken by the Union's forces during the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862 and remained under their control until the end of the conflict.In 1870, the city was gradually decimated by a yellow fever epidemic that lasted over several years. In 1878, at the height of these epidemics, 75% of the population disappeared.At the beginning of the twentieth century, Memphis continued to grow and developed the two largest cotton and timber markets for the construction of the United States. From the 1910 s, extensive sanitation and drainage campaigns were conducted to avoid new epidemics associated with the infestation of yellow fever mosquitoes. Between 1930 and 1960, many great blues musicians would be known to Memphis as Muddy Waters (1915/1983), Robert Johnson (1911-1938), B.B. King (1925/-) and Howlin 'Wolf (1910) /1976).In 1947, the first African-American radio, WDIA, was created in the city by Bert Ferguson and John Pepper. She had a certain B.B. King.It was in 1950 and in the years that followed that a new wave of great music stars became known. First names like Jerry Lee Lewis (1935/-), Johnny Cash (1932/2003), Elvis Presley (1935/1977), Carl Perkins (1932/1998), Roy Orbison (1936/1988), the Booker T. & the M.G.' s (active years from 1960 to late 1970), the Sam & Dave duo (active years from 1960 to the end of 1970), Otis Redding (1941/1967) or Isaac Hayes (1942/1967) -2008), to name but the largest.During the 1960 s, the city was at the center of the issue of civil rights, in particular during the black pebble strike (Memphis sanitation strike) which began on February 11, 1968, and then during the assassination of Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.In 1970, the Census Office reported that the population of Memphis was 60.8% white and 38.9% black.The city todayTrends in the 1970 s reversed: Memphis is populated by about 60% black for 30% white. Thanks to the presence of large companies, such as fedex (international freight forwarding - sponsor of the fedex omnisport room), Autozone (car spare parts - sponsor of the baseball stadium Autozone Park) or International Paper (first world group in the field of paper production), Memphis reduced its unemployment rate in previous years 5,52% %. Memphis International Airport is the fedex Express global superhub, it is the world's second largest freight airport, overrun by Hong Kong International Airport. When at its port, the International Port of Memphis, it is the second inland cargo port on Mississippi River, behind the port of Empire-Venice on the delta (Louisiana), and the fourth industrial port of the United States. It operates both on the shores of Tennessee and Arkansas.Major achievements in the city since 2013 include: the extension of the National Civil Rights Museum (Lorraine Motel); the inauguration of Beale Street Landing, a new pier for boat departures on Mississippi (including American Queen); The complete transformation of The Pyramid Arena (originally a huge 98-meter omnisport hall built in 1991, closed between 2004 and 2014) and the opening of the Bass Pro Shop complex, mainly dedicated to sports and outdoor activities but also to a panoramic restaurant; The opening in October 2016 of The Big River Crossing (on the Harahan Bridge, built in 1916), the longest bridge crossing the Mississippi (1516 m). The ensemble connects Memphis to West Memphis (Arkansas).