Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4 th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers.
Memphis has an estimated population of 670,100, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee, the third largest in the Southeastern United States, and the 19th largest in the United States.
The greater Memphis metropolitan area, including adjacent counties in Mississippi and Arkansas, has a population of 1,280,533. This makes Memphis the second largest metropolitan area in Tennessee, surpassed only by metropolitan Nashville, which overtook Memphis in recent years.
Memphis is the youngest of Tennessee's four major cities (traditionally including Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville). A resident of Memphis is referred to as a Memphian and the Memphis region is known, particularly to media outlets, as the "Mid-South."
History
Main article: History of Memphis, TennesseeEarly history
Because it occupies a substantial bluff rising from the Mississippi river bank, the area is a natural location for settlement. The Memphis area was first settled by the Mississippian Culture and then by the Chickasaw Indian tribe. European exploration came years later, with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and French explorers led by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.
The land comprising present-day Memphis remained in a largely unorganized territory throughout most of the 18th century. By 1796, the community was the westernmost point of the newly admitted state of Tennessee, located in the Southeast America.
19th century
Memphis was founded in 1819 by John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson. The city was named after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River. Memphis developed as a transportation center in the 19th century 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, the only East-West railroad across the southern states prior to the Civil War.
Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861 and Memphis briefly became a Confederate stronghold. Union forces captured the city 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.
In the 1870s, a series of yellow fever epidemics hit the city. The worst outbreak, in 1878, reduced the population by nearly 75% as many people died or fled the city permanently. Property tax revenues collapsed, and the city could not make payments on its municipal debts. As a result, Memphis lost its city charter and became a taxing district, operating thus from 1878-1893 and was rechartered in 1893.
20th century
Memphis grew into the world's largest spot cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market. Into the 1950s, it was the world's largest mule market.
From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a hotbed of machine politics under the direction of E. H. "Boss" Crump. During the Crump era, Memphis developed an extensive network of parks and public works as part of the national City Beautiful Movement.
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 well known for its cultural contributions to the identity of the American south. Many renowned musicians grew up in and around the Memphis and Mississippi Delta. 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.
Geography and climate
Main article: Geography of Memphis, TennesseeMemphis is located in southwestern Tennessee at 35°7′3″N 89°58′16″W / 35.1175°N 89.97111°W / 35.1175; -89.97111 . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 313.8 sq mi (763.4 km²), of which 302.3 sq mi (723.4 km²) is land and 15.4 sq mi (40.0 km²), or 5.24%, is water.
Cityscape
The city of Memphis is on the Mississippi River, and is the hub for a tri-state area of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Interstate 40 (I-40), running east-west and Interstate 55 running north-south, serve the city.
Aquifer
Shelby County is located over four natural aquifers, one of which is recognized as the "Memphis sand aquifer" or simply as the "Memphis aquifer". This artesian water is pure and soft. This particular water source, located some 350 to 1100 ft (100 – 330 m) underground, is estimated to contain more than 100 trillion gallons (380 km³) of water by Memphis Light, Gas and Water.
Climate
Memphis has a humid subtropical climate, with four distinct seasons. Winter weather comes from the upper Great Plains or from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to drastic swings. Summer weather may come from Texas (very hot and dry) or the Gulf (hot and humid.) The average high and low in July are 92°F (33°C) and 73°F (23°C), with high levels of humidity due to moisture encroaching from the Gulf of Mexico. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms are frequent during some summers, but usually brief, lasting no longer than an hour. Early autumn is pleasantly drier and mild, but can be hot until late October. Late autumn is rainy and colder; December is the third rainiest month of the year. Winters are mild to chilly, with average January high and low temperatures of 49°F (9°C) and 31°F (-1°C). Snow occurs sporadically in winter, with an average yearly snowfall of 5.7 inches. Ice storms are a bigger danger, pulling tree limbs down on power lines.
People and culture
Main article: Culture of Memphis, TennesseeDemographics
As of the 2005-2007 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, Blacks or African Americans made up 62.4% of Memphis's population; of which 62.3% were non-Hispanic blacks. White Americans made up 31.9% of Memphis's population; of which 30.2% were non-Hispanic whites. American Indians made up 0.2% of the city's population; of which 0.1% were non-Hispanic. Asian Americans made up 1.6% of the city's population. Pacific Islander Americans made up 0.1% of the city's population. Individuals from some other race made up 2.7% of the city's population; of which 0.2% were non-Hispanic. Individuals from two or more races made up 1.2% of the city's population; of which 0.9% were non-Hispanic. In addition, Hispanics and Latinos made up 4.6% of Memphis's population.
As of the census of 2000, there were 650,100 people, 250,721 households, and 158,455 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,327.4 people per sq mi (898.6/km²). There were 271,552 housing units at an average density of 972.2 per sq mi (375.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 61.41% African American, 34.41% White, 1.46% Asian, 0.19% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.45% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.97% of the population.
The Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 42nd largest in the United States, has a 2003 population of 1,239,337, and includes the Tennessee counties of Shelby, Tipton, and Fayette, as well as the Mississippi counties of DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica, and the Arkansas county of Crittenden.
Crime
Although in 2004 violent crime in Memphis reached a record low for over a decade, that trend subsequently reversed. In 2005, Memphis was ranked the 4th most dangerous city with a population of 500,000 or higher in the U.S. Crime in Memphis increased in 2005, and has seen a dramatic rise in the first half of 2006. Nationally, cities follow similar trends, and crime numbers tend to be cyclical. Local experts and criminologists cite gang recruitment as one possible cause of the rise in crime in Memphis and to a reduction of 66% of federal funding to th
Memphis, Tennessee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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