Memphis Attractions

Located in Memphis, the STAX Museum of American Soul is where Stax Records was based. The museum features everything soul, the legends, the music, and the history. On display are a variety of artifacts, video clips of famous musicians and moments in music history, and other memorabilia.

The C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa is a prehistoric American Indian archaeological site dating back to the 15th century. The site features a Mississippian mound complex, nature trail and arboretum, hands-on

archaeology lab, and exhibits that explore the history and lifestyle of Native Americans from the historic and prehistoric southeastern United States.

The Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis features films, exhibits, books, folk art and photography exhibits that provide a sense of regional music. Performances include blues, jazz, soul, country, folk and gospel music.

The crossing of Union Avenue and Front Street was where the cotton dealers formerly had their offices. The Cotton Exchange still exists today, but the electronic revolution means that only a few traders are to be found in the old exchange building.

The Danny Thomas Alsac Pavilion is located on the grounds of St Jude Children's Research Hospital. The pavilion is dedicated to singer and entertainer Danny Thomas who is the founder of the hospital.

Margaret Oates Dixon and Hugo Norton Dixon bequeathed their Memphis home, their gardens and their collection of French Impressionist paintings to be enjoyed by future generations.

The Fire Museum of Memphis is housed in the 1910 Fire Engine House No 1. The museum has interactive exhibits and historic firefighting equipment on display.

The Gibson Guitar Factory in Memphis factory features a tour that shows the creation of Gibson guitars from a block of wood to the finished product.

One of the most recent additions to the skyline of Memphis is the Great American Pyramid at 1 Auction Avenue, on the banks of the river. The steel and glass facade of this 32-storey structure, modeled on the Pyramid of Cheops, encloses an auditorium with seating for 22,000 spectators.
The Pyramid is a symbol relating Memphis to its namesake, the capital of ancient Egypt. The entrance to the Pyramid is guarded by a 20-foot tall statue of Pharaoh Ramses the Great.

The Lichterman Nature Center in Memphis is a 65-acre wildlife sanctuary with nature trails, a greenhouse, a lake and two teaching pavilions.

Magevney House in Memphis is a small, white clapboard cottage that was built in the 1830's and was home to Irish immigrant, Eugene Magevney. It is furnished as it might have been in 1850 and features several personal possessions of the Magevney family. It is one of the oldest buildings in Memphis.

The Mallory-Neely House in Memphis is a three-story Italianate mansion that was built in 1852. The 25-room home contains stenciled and hand-painted ceilings, parquet flooring, and stained-glass windows purchased at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

The Memphis Botanic Garden and Goldsmith Civic Garden Center features roses, irises, wildflowers and magnolias as well as a Japanese garden with a pavilion and lake.

The Kress Collection at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art includes Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, and sculpture from the late thirteenth century to the eighteenth century. The permanent collection of over 8,000 works also features 19th and 20th C sculpture by American sculptors, French bronzes as well as African works including masks and headdresses, reliquaries and carved figures. The decorative arts collection includes furniture, glass, ceramics, metalwork and textiles.

The Memphis Music Hall of Fame features exhibits of local music legends including instruments, personal memorabilia, and rare recordings.

The National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis features historic and contemporary metal objects along with regular metalworking demonstrations. The grounds of the museum feature an outdoor sculpture garden, picnic area and a river-bluff pavilion. The Riverbluff Pavilion is made from castings dating to the 1850s from buildings on Beale Street.

To the east of downtown Memphis, between Poplar Avenue and East Parkway, are Overton Park and Overton Square, the center of midtown Memphis's night life. In addition to numerous restaurants and bars there is the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the oldest and largest art museum in Tennessee, with a collection that ranges from pictures by way of printed graphic art to textiles. In the north-west corner of the park are the Memphis Zoo and Aquarium.

Some of the residents of the time-honored Peabody Hotel (149 Union Avenue) are ducks. Every day at 11 a.m. they are brought down in the lift from their apartment on the top floor, taken to their pond in the lobby, with musical accompaniment, and taken back at 5 p.m.

South-east of Overton Park, at 3050 Central Avenue, is the Pink Palace Museum (geology, flora and fauna and history of the Middle South). It is housed in a villa that belonged to Clarence Saunders, who in 1916 founded the Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain (still flourishing).
This Memphis museum got its name came from the pink marble that was used to construct the building.

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Ride the Ducks lets visitors tour Memphis by land and water in a replica WWII amphibious vehicle. The Captains include a U.S. Coast Guard sailor and all are experts on Memphis history - they provide a narrated tour.

The Sun Studio in Memphis is a small recording facility where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King and Roy Orbison began their careers.

The University of Memphis Art Museum specializes in West African and Egyptian art.

The WC Handy House Museum in Memphis pays tribute to WC Handy who was considered the "Father of the Blues. Handy composed "Memphis Blues" and "St Louis Blues" while living in this turn-of-the-century wood-frame house.

The Woodruff-Fontaine House in Memphis is a French Victorian mansion that was built in the 1870's. The home has been restored and is furnished with antiques and 19th C textiles.