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. 1795 -1797 – Spanish Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas. 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 Enquirer 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: First 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 – 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. Unionized firefighters and police officers conduct several strikes. 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 is demolished 2023 – October 5: Paul Young elected mayor.

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

Published in 20th century

(fulltext)

Published in 21st century Ernest Withers. Memphis Blues Again. Viking Studio, 2001.

John Branston. Rowdy Memphis. Brentwood, Tennessee: Cold Tree Press, 2004.

Sharon D. Wright. Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis. Taylor and Francis, 2007.

External links

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