Timeline of Memphis, Tennessee facts for kids

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 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: 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 - 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 rechartered.
• 1892 - Railroad bridge constructed.
• 1899 - Manassas High School established.

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1900 - Population: 102,320.
• 1905 - Madison Hotel built.
• 1906 - Memphis Zoo and Overton Park established.
• 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.
• 1922 - Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church established.
• 1924 - Lincoln American Tower built.
• 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.
• 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.

1950s-1990s

• 1950 - Population: 396,000.
• 1956 - Opera Memphis established.
• 1957 - Satellite Records in business.
• 1960
  • 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.
• 1936 - 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.
• 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.
• 1990 - Population: 610,337.
• 1991
  • National Civil Rights Museum and Pyramid Arena open.
  • Willie Herenton becomes mayor.
• 1996 - City website online.

21st century

Memphis skyline as seen from Poplar Avenue (2010)

• 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.