Berclair is a district of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, that is known for a major street in the district.

Geography

Berclair is bordered by the

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

railroad to the north;

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

, Covington Pike, and Stratford Road to the east; Summer Avenue to the south; and Graham Street to the west.

History

Development

The area was developed shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in the same manner as

Levittown Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States (including one in Puerto Rico) by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning white veterans and their ...

, New York, with many small houses for returning soldiers and their families.Robert W. Dye, ''Images of America - Shelby County'' At its beginning, the area originally was not a part of Memphis, but was annexed into the city in the late 1950s or early 1960s.''World book'', 1967 Edition, T (map of Tennessee in article on Tennessee), p. 113 Waring Road, which runs through Berclair, is named for George E. Waring, Jr., the innovative sanitary engineer who designed the drainage system that ended the era of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

epidemics in 19th-century Memphis.

First Holiday Inn

The original

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

chain of hotels was founded in 1952 in Memphis by homebuilder Kemmons Wilson to provide inexpensive family accommodation for travelers in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn in September 1952 at 4941 Summer Avenue in Berclair, on the main road to Nashville. Although it no longer exists, a historical marker has been installed at the location.

References

Neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee {{ShelbyCountyTN-geo-stub