Location and transportation: These are the two main elements responsible for the founding and development of Memphis and which continue to influence this Mississippi River city today.
This was true more than 1,000 years ago when Native Americans used crude stone tools to build a village on one of the high bluffs of the river and brought their canoes to navigate the waterway. It remains true now as this diverse multicultural community uses the latest high-tech equipment to move information, people, and services around the globe.
Between then and now, the city has repeatedly bounced back and forth between prosperity and ruin and has served as the capital of an area known as the Mid-South. This region can be defined as the area stretching 200 miles on all sides of the city. Throughout Memphis’s history, fascinating and legendary people have made their mark in the worlds of civil rights and politics (Ida B. Wells and Benjamin Hooks), literature (William Faulkner), entertainment (Elvis Presley and B. B. King), and business (Fred Smith with FedEx and Kemmons Wilson with Holiday Inns).
As frequently happens, this development occurred by chance because of the natural amenities provided by a small patch of land situated along a mighty river. People could either traverse the waterway or, due to the safety afforded by the bluffs from the catastrophic floods, settle here. This patch of land was known as the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff.