Historical Markers in
Shelby County, Tennessee

128 Court Street 1862 Post Office 1866 Memphis Massacre American Cutoff Mile/Greenville, Mississippi/Tarpley Cutoff American Studios / Elvis Presley at American Studios Annesdale Park Subdivision Anthony Chapel School, Greenwood AME Church & Cemetery Architectural Innovation Arkansas & White Rivers Arlington Cemetery Arlington Historic Post Office Arlington, Tennessee Arlington, Tennessee Veterans Memorial Artesian Water Ashbrook Cutoff/Eunice Landing, Arkansas/Arkansas City, Arkansas Barboro Grocery Bartlett Veterans Memorial Bartlett, Tennessee Baseball Baton Rouge, Louisiana Battle of Collierville Battle of Collierville Beale Street #1 Beale Street #2 Beale Street #3 Beale Street #4 Beale Street Baptist Church Beale Street Historic District Bedford Plantation Belle Chasse, Louisiana/English Turn Bend/Caernarvon Crevasse/Poydras Crevasse Benjamin Albert Imes Benjamin Franklin Booth Bettis Family Cemetery Big Creek Baptist Church Birthplace of Aretha Franklin Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Blacksmith Shop Blair T. Hunt, Sr. / Blair T. Hunt, Jr. Bobby Blue Bland Bonnet Carre Spillway/Lake Pontchartrain Booker T. Washington High School Bridgewater School Brodnax Jewelers Burkle Estate Business Men's Club Cairo, Illinois Calvary Cemetery Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church Campbell Clinic Capt. J. Harvey Mathes Captain Kit Dalton Casey Jones Central Gardens Historic District Chalmers's Collierville Raid Chambers Chapel United Methodist Church / Chambers Chapel Cemetery Chew C. Sawyer Chickasaw Trail Chop Suey Café / Chinese Merchants on Beale Street Christian Brothers College Christian Brothers High School / Christian Brothers Band Church Park Church Park Auditorium Civil War Capitol Civil War Hospital Civil War in Tennessee Claiborne Landing / Carville, Louisiana / Belle Grove Clarence Saunders' "Pink Palace" Clayborn Temple Cobblestone Landing Cobblestones Collierville Christian Church Collierville High School Collierville United Methodist Church Collierville, Tenn. Collierville, Tennessee Veterans Memorial Collins Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Commercial Barge Traffic Confederate Germantown Confederate History of Memphis Confederate Park Confederate Soldiers Rest Confederate States of America Congregation B'Nai Israel Cotton Exchange Building Court Square Saved Crisscross Lodge Crump Home Crystal Shrine Grotto D.T. Porter Building Danny Thomas Davies Manor Davies Manor Davis Island, Mississippi/Kents Island Deaderick Family Cemetery Donaldson Point, Missouri/Island No. 8/Hickman, Kentucky/Dorena Crevasse Donaldsonville, Louisiana/Bayou Lafourche/Geismar, Louisiana Dr. Greene Fort Pinkston Dr. Joseph Edison Walker Dr. Peter John Flippin Eastland Presbyterian Church Edward Shaw Elizabeth Avery Meriwether Ellen Davies-Rodgers Elmwood Cemetery Elvis Aaron Presley Elvis Presley and Sun Records / Sun Records Ernest C. Withers House Eudora Baptist Church Eudora Baptist Church Eugene Magevney Fargason Fields Farnsworth Building First Baptist Church First Baptist Church First Baptist Church / Mt. Olive CME Church First Baptist Church, Lauderdale First Black Radio Station First Congregational Church First Court House, First Newspaper First Holiday Inn First Memphis Waterfront First Tavern First Tennessee Bank First "Talkies" Former Criminal Courts Building Forrest and the Memphis Slave Trade Forrest's Artillery Positions Forrest's Early Home Fort Adams / Fort Pike Fort Adams, Mississippi/Old River Control Structure/Homochitto Cutoff Fort Germantown Fort San Fernando Fort San Fernando de Las Barrancas Fort/Stockade Fortunate Survivor France G. P. Hamilton Gabriel Maston Bartlett Gen. James M. Kennedy Hospital George Jackson George W. Lee Germantown Baptist Church Germantown Cemetery Germantown, Tennessee Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church Graceland Grand Gulf, Mississippi / Yucatan Cutoff / Big Black River Grand Lake Cutoff/Worthington Cutoff/Kentucky Bend Gray's Creek Baptist Church / Gray's Creek Cemetery Great Britain Greek Influence Griffin House Harrell Farm Log Cabin Hattie Manely Head of Passes/Pilottown, Louisiana Heiskell Farm Here, on April 4, 1968 … / … Today, a Place of Remembrance Herman W. Cox, Jr. History of Arlington History Of The Collierville Town Square Hog Point, Louisiana/Raccourci Cutoff/Caernarvon Crevasse Hollis Freeman Price, Sr. Hooks Brothers Photography Hughes-College Hill Park Humes High School Hurst's Raid at Barretville Hutchison School Hymelia Crevasse/Bonnet Carre Crevasse/Laplace, Louisiana/Reserve, Louisiana Ida B. Wells Idlewild Presbyterian Church Illinois Monument Isaac Hayes Island No. 20/Cottonwood Point/Booth Point, Tennessee/Linwood Bend Island No. 5 (Wolf Island)/Belmont, Missouri/Columbus, Kentucky Islands No. 2, 3, and 4 / Fort Jefferson, Kentucky / Bird’s Point, Missouri It was a Struggle for Freedom For Dignity and For Equality J. Millard "Jack" Smith James A. Hyter, “Ol’ Man River” James H. Malone Jane Terrell Hospital Jefferson Davis Memorial John B. Weatherall John Gray Historic House John Grisham John James Audubon Johnny Cash Johnny Cash's First Performance / Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two Joseph "Joe" C. Warren Josiah T. Settle Junior Crevasse/Poverty Point, Louisiana/Jesuits Bend Kenner, Louisiana/Davis Crevasse/Ormand Landing, Louisiana Kerrville Presbyterian Church Kuni Wada Bakery Remembrance Lake Providence, Louisiana/Stack Island Lansky Brothers Lauderdale Courts / Presley Family at Lauderdale Courts LeMoyne Owen College LeMoyne-Owen College Let Freedom Ring Lowenstein Mansion Lucie Eddie Campbell Luke Edward Wright Lutcher, Louisiana/Oak Alley/St. James Landing, Louisiana Mallory-Neely House Manassas High School / The Cora P. Taylor Auditorium Marcus Winchester Marion Scudder Griffin Marion Scudder Griffin Market Square Martin Stadium Mary Alice Park Mary Church Terrell Mason Temple Maxwelton (Circa 1855-1860) McGinnis Park Melrose School Memphis & Charleston Railroad Memphis and Shelby County Medical Society Memphis Belle Memphis City Hospital Memphis Martyrs Memphis National Cemetery Memphis Queen II Memphis State Eight Memphis University School Memphis,Tennessee/Mud Island Memphis's Civil War Sites Mertie's Lake and the Buckman Water Science Trail Metropolitan Inter~Faith Association Millington Centennial and Veterans Monument Millington Central High School Millington, Tennessee / Park Field Mississippi River Park Modern Movie~Making In Memphis Mounds Landing Crevasse/Cypress Bend/Caulk Neck Cutoff Mt. Moriah Baptist Church Mud Island Mulatto Bend/Springfield Bend/Profit Island Mullins United Methodist Church N. B. Forrest Camp 215 Sons of Confederate Veterans Nashoba Nat D. Williams Natchez Island / Vidalia, Louisiana / Giles Cutoff Natchez, Mississippi Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest III, Airman Naval Battle of Memphis, 1862 Nelson-Kirby House Neshoba Junior High School New Madrid, Missouri/Cates Casting Field/Island No. 10 New Orleans, Louisiana New Winchester Burying Ground Nicholas Gotten No Man's Land Memorial Normal Depot Normal Station Neighborhood North Carolina North Memphis Driving Park Oak Grove Baptist Church Oaklawn Garden Oakville Missionary Baptist Church Ohio River Old Stagecoach Inn Opera House Fire Orange Mound Orion Hill Ostrica Lock/Buras, Louisiana/Empire Lock/Nairn, Louisiana Overton Park Overton Square Owen College Palmetto Bend/Jackson Point/St. Catherine’s Creek/Ellis Cliffs Paul W. Barret Peabody Hotel Peabody Lobby Peabody Revitalization Pee Wee Saloon People's Grocery Phi Beta Sigma/Abram Langston Taylor Phillips Cottage Pigeon Roost Road Piggly Wiggly Plaquemine, Louisiana/Manchac Bend Plastic Products Record Plant Pleasant Hill Cemetery Point a La Hache, Louisiana/Magnolia Plantation, Louisiana Poplar Tunes / One-Stop Shop Port Hudson, Louisiana/Fausse River Cutoff Porter-Leath Children's Center Pre-Civil War Lynching at Market Square Presbyterian Church of Collierville Promenade R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home Rachel H.K. Burrow Museum Raiding the Rails Raleigh Raleigh Cemetery Reelfoot Lake Rhodes College Richland Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Ridge of the attack Robert Karriem Robert R. Church Rock of Ages Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Rodney Cutoff/Bayou Pierre Rose Garden Rosemark National Historic District Rufus Thomas, Jr. Russwood Park Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church Sara Roberta Church Schools For Freedmen Second Congregational Church Second Presbyterian Church Sgt. Walter K. Singleton Shelby County / Memphis Shelby County Archives and Hall of Records / Former Criminal Courts Building Shelby County Courthouse Shelby County Hospital / Shelby County Center Shelby County Training School Site of First Memphis Telephone Site of the former Union Avenue United Methodist Church Skipwith Crevasse/Sara Cutoff/Island No. 89 Solvent Savings Bank Southwestern Alumni World War II Memorial Spain St. Agnes Academy St. Ann Catholic Church St. John Baptist Church St. John's United Methodist Church St. Mary's Cathedral Chapel and Diocesan House St. Mary's Catholic Church St. Mary's Episcopal School St. Peter Catholic Church Statuary at the Shelby County Courthouse Stax Recording Studios Steele Hall T. H. Hayes and Sons Funeral Home Tennessee Tennessee Club Tennessee River/Cumberland River Tennessee Williams Play Tennessee Williams’ First Play The 1960 Memphis Sit-In Movement The 1969 Miss Memphis Review The Antenna Club The Atchafalaya Problem The Battle of Collierville The Battle of New Orleans The Blues Foundation The Blues Trail From Mississippi to Memphis The Brick Church The Commercial Appeal / Publishing Locations The Country Store The Fire of 1872 The First Lee House The First Railroad in West Tennessee The Geographical Center of Shelby County The Gillis Brothers The Grand Opera House / The New Orpheum Theatre The Hiker The Hole in the Wall The Hunt-Phelan Home The Lee Sisters The Lindenwood Christian Church The Lorraine Motel The Lynching of Ell Persons The Lynching of Ell Persons The Lynching of Lee Walker The Lynching of Wash Henley The Memphis 13 / Springdale Elementary School The Memphis 13/Bruce Elementary The Memphis 13/Gordon Elementary School The Memphis 13/Rozelle Elementary School The Memphis Daily Appeal The Memphis Home of W.C. Handy The Mississippi Riverwalk The Mount Nebo Baptist Church The Omlie Tower The Original Depot The Original Village The Overton Park Shell/The Levitt Shell At Overton Park The Peabody Legacy The Saturday Night Jamboree The Shrine Building The Sultana Disaster The University of Memphis The University of West Tennessee The Wigfall Grays This Chimney Swift Tower This flagpole is dedicated to the men and women of the United States military services This Plaque is Dedicated to Father and Son, Leaders of Their Race Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Moss ~ Calvin McDowell ~ William Henry Stewart Tiptonville, Tennessee/Bixby Towhead Tom Tom Brooks Park Tom Lee Memorial Tom Lee Monument Tragic Accident Sparks Sanitation Strike Treating the Wounded U.S. Colored Troops and the Battle of Fort Pillow / Remember Fort Pillow U.S. Supreme Court Rules On Overton Park and I-40 Union Avenue Universal Life Insurance Building / Universal Life Insurance Company Venice Louisiana/Fort Jackson, Louisiana/Fort St. Phillip Vicksburg Virginia ("Ginnie") Bethel Moon Wade Bolton and Bolton College / Bolton School War Comes to Germantown Warren Chapel Pisgah Cemetery Washburn's Quarters Waterproof, Louisiana/Ashland Landing, Mississippi WDIA WHER - The Nation's First All Girl Radio Station White Hall Plantation/Union, Louisiana/Point Houmas Wildcats William G. Leftwich, Jr. Memorial William Herbert Brewster, Sr. William Neely Mallory Willie Mitchell's Royal Studios Willow Cutoff/Salem Crevasse/Goodrich Landing,Louisiana Winchester Cemetery WLOK Radio Station WMC Radio Station Woodruff - Fontaine House Woodstock Community Veterans Memorial Young’s Point / Milliken’s Bend / Omega Landing Zion Cemetery Zippin Pippin / Libertyland
The town of Bell Buckle, Tennessee, is known for its annual Webb School Arts and Crafts Festival, which has been held every October since 1976. The festival attracts thousands of visitors each year.
Shelby County, located in southwestern Tennessee, has a rich and diverse history dating back thousands of years. Its earliest inhabitants were Native American tribes such as the Chickasaw and Choctaw, who relied on the fertile land and abundant wildlife for sustenance. European exploration and settlement began in the late 17th century, with French explorers venturing into the region.

By the early 19th century, Shelby County had become a significant center of commerce and trade due to its strategic location along the Mississippi River. The city of Memphis, founded in 1819, quickly emerged as the region's economic hub, attracting merchants, entrepreneurs, and settlers from all across the country. The county played a crucial role in the cotton industry, with Memphis serving as a major cotton market and transportation hub.

The Civil War had a profound impact on Shelby County. While the state of Tennessee initially seceded from the Union, Memphis was occupied by Union forces in 1862, shifting the region's allegiances. The county experienced significant destruction during the war, witnessing battles and suffering from prolonged military occupation. However, with the end of the war came a period of reconstruction and rebirth for Shelby County.

Throughout the 20th century, Shelby County continued to grow and evolve. The city of Memphis became a center of civil rights activism, with pivotal events like the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taking place there. The county has also been known for its musical contributions, particularly in the genres of blues and rock 'n' roll, with iconic artists such as Elvis Presley and B.B. King originating from the region. Today, Shelby County remains an important cultural, economic, and political center in Tennessee, blending its historical legacy with modern progress.

This timeline provides a concise overview of the key events in the history of Shelby County, Tennessee.

  • 1819: Shelby County was established on November 24.
  • 1835: Memphis was incorporated as a city on December 19.
  • 1843: Shelby County Courthouse, now known as the Old Shelby County Courthouse, was built.
  • 1861-1865: Shelby County was deeply affected by the American Civil War.
  • 1899: The first automobile was registered in Shelby County.
  • 1925: The Memphis Pyramid was completed.
  • 1968: The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took place at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
  • 1977: Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll," passed away in his Graceland mansion.