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Downtown Memphis, Tennessee

Downtown Memphis is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee, and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south, and Interstate 240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis.

Downtown Memphis as seen from Poplar Avenue

The downtown area is home to the Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, as well as the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team.

History

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Main article: History of Memphis, Tennessee
 
The Memphis river landing (1906)

Downtown Memphis is the oldest part of the city and includes the riverfront and the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. The founders of Memphis dedicated the riverfront to the public "now and forever" as long as public use continued. The land overlooking the riverfront was originally planned to become a "public promenade" to be called Mississippi Row. The upper riverfront became the site of the river landing where steamboats were loaded with cotton and other goods in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1844 and 1886 the river landing was paved with limestone and granite cobblestones brought in from the upper Midwest. This created what is today the largest intact Mississippi River landing still in existence, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] The explosion of the steamboat Sultana in 1865 near Memphis was one of the worst maritime disasters in history.

There are several historic residences downtown, particularly in the Victorian Village neighborhood. Other historic homes include the Hunt-Phelan House (1830), the Magevney House (c. 1835), and the Burkle Estate (1849). The Burkle home and the Hunt-Phelan House (533 Beale Street) were reputed to have been part of the Underground Railroad by which escaped slaves made their way to freedom prior to the Civil War.[2]

Downtown Airport

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In 1959, the Memphis Downtown Airport was opened on Mud Island, which at that time was called City Island. The one-runway airport could be reached by a pontoon-boat ferry and was used mostly by businessmen and shoppers. The Downtown Airport was closed in 1970.[3] It was replaced in the 1990s by the new urbanist Harbor Town development.

Overview

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Buildings

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See also: List of tallest buildings in Memphis
 
View west on Madison Avenue, ending with the Customs House (1906)

The Downtown Memphis skyline contains the tallest buildings in the city. The tallest building in Memphis, 100 North Main, is located at the heart of downtown along Main Street at Adams Ave and rises to 430 ft (131m). Some notable and/or historic downtown buildings are:

Downtown Memphis includes 4.5 million square feet (418,000 square meters) of office space,[4] around 1 million square feet (93,000 square meters) of retail space, 3,456 hotel rooms, and 13,400 housing units.[5]

The administrative core of Memphis and of Shelby County, Tennessee is also located in Downtown Memphis. These include the Memphis City Hall and the Federal Building, located on North Main Street, in the Civic Center Plaza (corner of Main Street and Washington). Downtown Memphis also contains the Memphis branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.[6]

Districts and neighborhoods

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View from the Peabody Hotel, looking east over Autozone Park toward the Medical District.

Downtown Core

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Downtown Core is the heart of the central business district and includes the majority of the office space, retail, entertainment, and dining spaces.[5] It is a popular regional destination for entertainment, dining, and tourism and includes attractions such as Beale Street, FedExForum, AutoZone Park, and the Peabody Hotel.

Districts & neighborhoods

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Memphis Riverfront

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River Walk at Butler Park

Downtown Memphis is located on the banks of the Mississippi River. The Memphis Riverfront stretches from the Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in the north to T. O. Fuller State Park in the south.

The River Walk is a park system along the Mississippi River that connects the Mississippi River Greenbelt Park in the north to Tom Lee Park in the south.

Points of interest along the riverfront include:

Economy

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Companies headquartered in Downtown Memphis include:

Downtown Memphis is also the former headquarters of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (One Commerce Square).[10]

Schools

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Downtown Memphis is zoned to the following Shelby County Schools (formerly Memphis City Schools) campuses:

Transportation

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Downtown is served by major highways and interstates, public bus and trolley service by MATA, commercial bus service by Greyhound, and passenger train service by Amtrak.

Interstates I-40, I-55, I-69 and I-240 all run directly through Downtown, providing direct access to the area from adjacent areas as well as the region as a whole. The new Interstate 22 is about 10 miles away from Downtown. Downtown also serves as the western terminus of U.S. Route 78 as well as U.S. Route 72, and is directly located along U.S. Route 51, U.S. Route 61, U.S. Route 64, U.S. Route 70, and U.S. Route 79.

MATA operates the North End Terminal, its primary hub for Memphis public bus service, at the corner of Main Street and A.W. Willis Avenue.[11] The majority of fixed bus routes operated by MATA terminate at the North End Terminal, therefore bus accessibility in the area is very high.[12]

The MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar system that operates three lines in Downtown along Main Street, Riverside Drive, and Madison Avenue. These three lines serve twenty-four stations and, in 2021, had a daily ridership of approximately 650.[13] Connections between MATA public bus and Main Street trolley line can be made at the North End Terminal.

Amtrak's City of New Orleans passenger train runs through Downtown Memphis three days a week, stopping at Central Station.[14]

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Historic views

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References

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  1. ^ http://river.freshbits.com/library/2000/05/on-memphis-waterfront-master-plan-must.html Clubb, Deborah M. On the Memphis Waterfront: Master Plan Must Account for What the Founders Wanted: A Public Promenade Commercial Appeal, Sunday, May 21, 2000.
  2. ^ Hunt-Phelann House. Archived March 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Bond, Beverly G.; Sherman, Janann (2003). Memphis: In Black & White. Memphis: Arcadia Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 0-7385-2441-7.
  4. ^ "Memphis MarketBeats | United States". Cushman & Wakefield. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Downtown Memphis: Demographics". Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  6. ^ "Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis | Memphis Branch". Retrieved October 17, 2013
  7. ^ Memphis' Confederate Parks Renamed: City Drops 3 Names That Honor Racist Past Reuters
  8. ^ "Store Support Center." AutoZone. Retrieved on June 4, 2013.
  9. ^ "Contact Us Archived 2014-10-04 at the Wayback Machine." Southern Airways Express. Retrieved on November 21, 2014. "Southern Airways Express One Commerce Square, 21st Floor P.O. Box 3088 Memphis, TN 38173"
  10. ^ Risher, Wayne. "Pinnacle's decision to move Downtown lifts hopes for other development." The Commercial Appeal. October 8, 2010. Retrieved on October 8, 2010.
  11. ^ "MataTransit | Memphis, TN". www.matatransit.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  12. ^ "MATA-System_Map_Nov20.pdf" (PDF). MATA Memphis Area Transit Authority. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  13. ^ "Monthly Module Raw Data Release". www.transit.dot.gov. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  14. ^ "City of New Orleans Train Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans | Amtrak". www.amtrak.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
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