President's Island is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

in southwest

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. The city's major

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...

and an

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

are located there.

History

The name ''President'' or ''President's'' Island appeared as early as 1801 or 1802 in a river guide called ''Cramer's Navigator''.Vrettos, N. ''Story of Presidents Island.''
Presidents Island, Industrial Association, 2005. The name referred to the island's size, then the largest on the Mississippi River. At that time President's Island was an actual island. Some old river maps identify the northern third of the present island as Vice President's Island. The

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

established a camp on the island for

freed slave A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

s in 1865, and about 1,500 former slaves stayed there for a time. Some years later,

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...

contracted with local officials to establish a penal farm on the island to raise corn and cotton. Forrest offered to pay Shelby County 10 cents a day for each worker. Forrest died in 1877, possibly of dysentery contracted by drinking impure island water. In the late 1870s the island served as a refuge for many people fleeing the yellow fever epidemics that swept the city, killing thousands. The development plan devised in the 1940s called for closing the Tennessee Chute that had separated the island from the eastern bank. This created a deep-water harbor (later named ''McKellar Lake'') accessible from the Mississippi by the channel at the south end of the island. The Flood Control Act of 1946 allocated $17 million for the project, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1948. The flood control and industrial development project in the late 1940s dammed the section of river between the island and the eastern bank and created a peninsula. Prior to that time, the island was surrounded by the river and subject to its power. Floods interfered with various attempts to raise crops and endangered the lives of those who had settled there. The island's relative isolation and untamed landscape made it a favored location for illicit activities, including

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, cockfights, and

moonshining Moonshine is high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial distilleries hav ...

. Four Memphians were most responsible for transforming President's Island into an industrial center: businessman Frank C. Pidgeon, E.H. Crump, U.S. Senator Kenneth McKellar, and Jack Carley, an editorial writer for the Commercial Appeal newspaper. McKellar was chairman of the

Senate Appropriations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committ ...

, which was instrumental in funding the project. Gen. M.C. Tyler, former president of the Mississippi River Commission, was also instrumental in plans for island development. The island was annexed by the city in 1947.

Today

The 7,500 acre peninsula is home to a diverse wildlife habitat with 1,200 acres zoned for industrial development. 95% of the industrial land is already occupied with an annual economic impact of $7.1 billion. The industrial park supports about 200 companies with 4,000 employees. Most of the land is in the flood plain with several thousand acres of undeveloped woodlands.

References

{{authority control Islands of the Mississippi River Former islands of the United States River islands of Tennessee Landforms of Shelby County, Tennessee Peninsulas of Tennessee