Timeline Of Memphis, Tennessee

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, US.

Prior to 19th century

* 1739 – Fort Assumption built by French.
* 1740 – Fort Assumption abandoned.
* 1797 – U.S. fort built.

19th century

* 1819 – Town laid out.
* 1826 – Town incorporated.
* 1827
**''Memphis Advocate'' newspaper begins publication.
** Marcus B. Winchester becomes mayor.
* 1836 – ''Memphis Enquir er'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1841 – ''The Appeal'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1843
** New Orleans-Memphis telegraph begins operating.
** ''Memphis Daily Eagle'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1844 – Calvary Episcopal Church consecrated.
* 1849 – Memphis incorporated as a city.
* 1850
** Town designated a port of customs.
** Population: 8,841.
* 1852 – Elmwood Cemetery established.
* 1853 – Congregation B'nai Israel founded.
* 1854 – Jones & Co. chemists in business.
* 1855 – German Benevolent Society formed.
* 1857 – Memphis & Charleston Railroad completed.
* 1858 – ''Memphis Daily Avalanche'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1860 – Population: 22,623.
* 1861 – Memphis and Ohio Railroad completed.
* 1862
** Tennessee capital relocated to Memphis from Nashville.
** June 6: Battle of Memphis takes place on Mississippi River near town; Union forces take Memphis.
* 1864
** August 21: Second Battle of Memphis.
** First National Bank of Memphis established.
* 1866
** May: Racial unrest.
** Greenwood School established.
** ''Memphis Post'' begins publication.

* 1868 – Peabody Hotel in business.
* 1870
** Goldsmith's store in business.
** Population: 40,226.
* 1871
** LeMoyne Normal Institute and College of Christian Brothers established.
** St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral consecrated.
* 1873 – Yellow fever epidemic.
* 1874 – Memphis Cotton Exchange founded.
* 1875 – Southwestern at Memphis (college) established.
* 1878 – Yellow fever epidemic.
* 1879 – Yellow fever epidemic.

* 1880
**Sewer system construction begins
**Population: 33,592.
* 1882
** Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church established.
** Chickasaw Cooperage Company incorporated.
* 1883 – Young Men's Christian Association chartered.
* 1885 – Peoples Grocery in business.
* 1887 – Memphis National Bank organized.
* 1890
** Nineteenth Century Club formed.
** Population: 64,589.
* 1891 – City chartered again.
* 1892 – Frisco Bridge (a cantilevered through truss bridge) constructed.
* 1899 – Manassas High School established.
* 1900 – Population: 102,320.

20th century

1900s–1940s

* 1905 – Madison Hotel built.
* 1906 – Memphis Zoo and Overton Park established.
* 1909 – Bureau of Municipal Research active (approximate date).
* 1910
** Commission form of government begins.
** Exchange Building constructed.
** E. H. Crump becomes mayor.
** Population: 131,105.

* 1911 – Urban League branch established.
* 1912 – Handy's ''The Memphis Blues'' (song) published.
* 1914 – Union Avenue United Methodist Church built.
* 1915 – Guthrie Elementary School founded.
* 1916
** Harahan Bridge opens to West Memphis, Arkansas.
** Memphis Brooks Museum of Art established.
** Piggly Wiggly grocery in business.
* 1917
** May 22: Lynching of Ell Persons.
** National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established.
* 1919 – Citizens' Co-operative Stores incorporated.
* 1920
** City hosts Commission on Interracial Cooperation Women's Interracial Conference.
** Population: 162,351.
* 1921
**Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church established.
*1922
** WREC radio begins broadcasting.
* 1923 – WMC radio begins broadcasting.
* 1924 – Lincoln American Tower built.
* 1925 – WHBQ and WMPS radio begin broadcasting.
* 1929 – Memphis Municipal Airport dedicated.
* 1930
** Memphis Museum of Natural History and Industrial Arts opens.
** Sterick Building constructed.
** Population: 253,143.
* 1931
** ''Memphis World'' newspaper begins publication.
** Cotton Carnival begins. (fulltext)
* 1932 – ''Memphis Times'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1936 – Memphis Academy of Art founded.
* 1937 – Firestone factory in operation in Hyde Park.
* 1938 – Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception built.
* 1939 – First Colored Baptist Church built.
* 1940 – Population: 292,942.
* 1941 – Mason Temple built.
* 1945 – Lorraine Motel in business.
* 1946
** Douglass High School opens.
** Tri-State Bank established.
* 1947 – WDIA radio begins broadcasting.
* 1948
** WMCT (television) begins broadcasting.
** 13 year old Elvis Presley moves to Memphis.

1950s–1990s

* 1950 – Population: 396,000.
* 1953 – WHBQ-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
* 1955 – WHER radio begins broadcasting.
* 1956 –
** WREG-TV (as WREC-TV) (television) begins broadcasting.
** Opera Memphis established.
* 1957 – Satellite Records in business.
* 1960
* 1961 – Thirteen African American first graders join Memphis City Schools
**Henry Loeb becomes mayor.
**Population: 497,524.
* 1965 – 100 North Main building and White Station Tower constructed.

* 1968
** January: Henry Loeb becomes mayor again.
** February 11: Memphis sanitation strike begins.
** April 3: Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers ''I've Been to the Mountaintop'' speech.
** April 4: Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
** April 8: March in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
* 1969 â€
Sesquicentennial Celebration
* 1970
** Vollintine-Evergreen Community Association organized.
**Population: 623,530.
* 1971 – Clark Tower built
* 1972 – National Bank of Commerce building constructed.
* 1973 – May: City hosts Rock Writers of the World Convention.
* Massive white flight occurs in Memphis City Schools.
* Desegregation busing begins in Memphis
* 1974 – Women's Resource Center founded.
* 1975 – Hyatt hotel opens.
* 1976 – Temple Israel built.
* 1977 – Memphis in May festival begins.
* 1978 – Muslim Society of Memphis founded.
* 1980 – Population: 646,356.
* 1985
** Tall Trees (prison) privatised.
**Morgan Keegan Tower built.
* 1988 - Memphis tanker truck disaster.
* 1990 – Population: 610,337.
* 1991
**National Civil Rights Museum and Pyramid Arena open.
**Willie Herenton becomes mayor.
* 1996 – City website online.

21st century

* 2002 – June 8: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson boxing match.
* 2003
** Clark Opera Memphis Center opens.
** July 22: Memphis Summer Storm of 2003, also known as "Hurricane Elvis".
** December 18: Airplane crash.
* 2007 – Steve Cohen becomes U.S. representative for Tennessee's 9th congressional district.
* 2008 – February 5–6: Tornado outbreak.
* 2009
** October: A C Wharton elected mayor.
** City open government standard enacted.
* 2012 – Population: 655,155.
* 2015 – October 8: Jim Strickland elected mayor.
* 2016 – ''Raleigh Springs Mall'' gets demolished

See also

* History of Memphis, Tennessee
* List of mayors of Memphis, Tennessee
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Shelby County, Tennessee
* Timelines of other cities in Tennessee: Chattanooga, Clarksville, Knoxville, Murfreesboro, Nashville
* Timeline of Tennessee

References

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

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Published in 20th century

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Published in 21st century

* Ernest Withers. Memphis Blues Again. Viking Studio, 2001.
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* John Branston. Rowdy Memphis. Brentwood, Tennessee: Cold Tree Press, 2004.
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* Sharon D. Wright. Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis. Taylor and Francis, 2007.
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External links

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* Digital Public Library of America
Items related to Memphis, TN
various dates
* Tennessee State Library and Archives
Memphis City Directories
various dates (digitized)
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{{Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis