Memphis is located in the southwest corner of the state of Tennessee. The city rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River. Memphis has an estimated population of 669,651, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee.

History

The Memphis area was first settled by the Mississippian Culture and then by the Chickasaw Indian tribe. European exploration came later, with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and French explorers led by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.

In 1819, Memphis was founded by John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson. The Southern city was named after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River. Memphis developed as a transportation center in the 1800s because of its flood-free location, high above the Mississippi River.

As the cotton economy of the antebellum South depended on the forced labor of large numbers of African-American slaves, Memphis became a major slave market. In 1857, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was completed. It was the only east to west railroad across the southern states prior to the Civil War.

Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861 and Memphis for a short period of time became a Confederate stronghold. Union forces captured Memphis in the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, and the city remained under Union control for the duration of the war. Memphis became a Union supply base and continued to prosper throughout the war.

During the 1960s the city was at the center of civil rights issues, notably the location of a sanitation workers' strike. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel, the day after giving his prophetic I've Been to the Mountaintop speech at the Mason Temple.

Memphis is renowned for its cultural contributions to the identity of the American south. Many famous musicians grew up in and around the Memphis and northern Mississippi area. These included such musical greats as Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Robert Johnson, W.C. Handy, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. Jones, and Al Green.