Timeline of Memphis, Tennessee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prior to 19th century
- 1739 – Fort Assumption built by French.
- 1740 – Fort Assumption abandoned.
- 1795 -1797 – Spanish Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas.
- 1797 – U.S. fort built.[1]
19th century
- 1819 – Town laid out.[2]
- 1826 – Town incorporated.[3]
- 1827
- Memphis Advocate newspaper begins publication.[4]
- Marcus B. Winchester becomes mayor.
- 1836 – Memphis Enquirer newspaper begins publication.[4]
- 1841 – The Appeal newspaper begins publication.
- 1843
- 1844 – Calvary Episcopal Church consecrated.[5]
- 1849 – Memphis incorporated as a city.[1][2]
- 1850
- Town designated a port of customs.[3]
- Population: 8,841.[6]
- 1852 – Elmwood Cemetery established.
- 1853 – Congregation B'nai Israel founded.
- 1854 – Jones & Co. chemists in business.[7]
- 1855 – German Benevolent Society formed.[8]
- 1857 – Memphis & Charleston Railroad completed.[3]
- 1858 – Memphis Daily Avalanche newspaper begins publication.[4]
- 1860 – Population: 22,623.[9][2]
- 1861 – Memphis and Ohio Railroad completed.[10]
- 1862
- Tennessee capital relocated to Memphis from Nashville.[3]
- June 6: First Battle of Memphis takes place on Mississippi River near town; Union forces take Memphis.[3]
- 1864
- August 21: Second Battle of Memphis.
- First National Bank of Memphis established.[7]
- 1866
- May: Racial unrest.
- Greenwood School established.[11]
- Memphis Post begins publication.
- 1868 – Peabody Hotel in business.[5]
- 1870
- Goldsmith's store in business.
- Population: 40,226.[9][2]
- 1871
- LeMoyne Normal Institute[12] and College of Christian Brothers[2] established.
- St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral consecrated.
- 1873 – Yellow fever epidemic.[2]
- 1874 – Memphis Cotton Exchange founded.
- 1875 – Southwestern at Memphis (college) established.[1]
- 1878 – Yellow fever epidemic.[3][2]
- 1879 – Yellow fever epidemic.[2]
- 1880
- Sewer system construction begins[13]
- Population: 33,592.[9][2]
- 1882
- 1883 – Young Men's Christian Association chartered.[8]
- 1885 – Peoples Grocery in business.
- 1887 – Memphis National Bank organized.[7]
- 1890
- Nineteenth Century Club formed.[8]
- Population: 64,589.[9][2]
- 1891 – City chartered again.[2]
- 1892 – Frisco Bridge (a cantilevered through truss bridge) constructed.[6][2]
- 1899 – Manassas High School established.
- 1900 – Population: 102,320.[9][2]
20th century
1900s–1940s
- 1905 – Madison Hotel built.
- 1906 – Memphis Zoo[15] and Overton Park established.
- 1909 – Bureau of Municipal Research active (approximate date).[citation needed]
- 1910
- Commission form of government begins.[2]
- Exchange Building constructed.
- E. H. Crump becomes mayor.
- Population: 131,105.[9]
- 1911 – Urban League branch established.[16]
- 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.[17]
- 1917
- May 22: Lynching of Ell Persons.[18]
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch established.[citation needed]
- 1919 – Citizens' Co-operative Stores incorporated.[19]
- 1920
- City hosts Commission on Interracial Cooperation Women's Interracial Conference.[20]
- Population: 162,351.[9]
- 1921
- Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church established.[21]
- 1922
- 1923 – WMC radio begins broadcasting.[22]
- 1924 – Lincoln American Tower built.
- 1925 – WHBQ and WMPS radio begin broadcasting.[22]
- 1929 – Memphis Municipal Airport dedicated.[23]
- 1930
- Memphis Museum of Natural History and Industrial Arts opens.
- Sterick Building constructed.
- Population: 253,143.[9]
- 1931
- 1932 – Memphis Times newspaper begins publication.[4]
- 1936 – Memphis Academy of Art founded.
- 1937 – Firestone factory in operation in Hyde Park.[25]
- 1938 – Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception built.
- 1939 – First Colored Baptist Church built.
- 1940 – Population: 292,942.[9]
- 1941 – Mason Temple built.
- 1945 – Lorraine Motel in business.
- 1946
- Douglass High School opens.
- Tri-State Bank established.[26]
- 1947 – WDIA radio begins broadcasting.
- 1948
- WMCT (television) begins broadcasting.[27]
- 13 year old Elvis Presley moves to Memphis.
1950s–1990s
- 1950 – Population: 396,000.[9]
- 1953 – WHBQ-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[27]
- 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.[9]
- 1965 – 100 North Main building and White Station Tower constructed.
- 1968
- January: Henry Loeb becomes mayor again.
- February 11: Memphis sanitation strike begins.[28]
- April 3: Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers I've Been to the Mountaintop speech.
- April 4: Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.[29]
- April 8: March in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.[30]
- 1969 – Sesquicentennial Celebration
- 1970
- Vollintine-Evergreen Community Association organized.[31]
- Population: 623,530.[9]
- 1971 – Clark Tower built
- 1972 – National Bank of Commerce building constructed.
- 1973 – May: City hosts Rock Writers of the World Convention.[32]
- Massive white flight occurs in Memphis City Schools.
- Desegregation busing begins in Memphis
- 1974 – Women's Resource Center founded.[33]
- 1975 – Hyatt hotel opens.
- 1976 – Temple Israel built.
- 1977 – Memphis in May festival begins.
- 1978
- Muslim Society of Memphis founded.[34]
- Unionized firefighters and police officers conduct several strikes.
- 1980 – Population: 646,356.[9]
- 1985
- Tall Trees (prison) privatised.[35]
- Morgan Keegan Tower built.
- 1988 - Memphis tanker truck disaster.[36][37]
- 1990 – Population: 610,337.[9]
- 1991
- National Civil Rights Museum and Pyramid Arena open.
- Willie Herenton becomes mayor.[38]
- 1996 – City website online.[39][40]
21st century
- 2002 – June 8: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson boxing match.
- 2003
- Clark Opera Memphis Center opens.[41]
- 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.[42]
- 2008 – February 5–6: Tornado outbreak.
- 2009
- October: A C Wharton elected mayor.[43]
- City open government standard enacted.[44]
- 2012 – Population: 655,155.
- 2015 – October 8: Jim Strickland elected mayor.[45]
- 2016 – Raleigh Springs Mall is demolished
- 2023 – October 5: Paul Young elected mayor.[46]
