Memphis Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), Memphis

One of the most iconic destinations in the United States, the city of Memphis has gone down in history for many different reasons. Set on a bluff over the Mississippi River, the site of today's Memphis has been settled for over a thousand years by various cultures, including the Indian tribe of Chickasaw. The latter encountered European explorers in the 16th century. In the 18th century, Spain and the United States vied for control of this territory.

The city of Memphis was founded on May 22, 1819 and was named after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River. In the 19th century, the city developed as a trade and transportation center because of its flood-free location, with the outlying areas developed as cotton plantations, making it a major cotton market and brokerage center. Eventually, Memphis grew to become a major market for the domestic slave trade, as the cotton economy of the antebellum South depended heavily on the forced labor of African-American slaves.

During the 1960s, the city played a prominent role in the American Civil Rights Movement, as its large African-American population had been affected by state segregation practices in the early 20th century. Consequently, Memphis was the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968.

Today, Memphis is a regional center for commerce, education, media, art, and entertainment. Known for its cultural contributions to the identity of the American South, it has long had a prominent music scene shaped by a multi-cultural mix of influences across the blues, jazz, country, rock n' roll, soul, and hip-hop genres. Many renowned musicians grew up in and around the city, such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, W. C. Handy, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Justin Timberlake, and Aretha Franklin, to mention but a few.

Thousands of tourists flock to Memphis each year out of desire to visit the legendary Sun Studio where Elvis made his early recordings or the local Rock 'n' Soul Museum, or to take a stroll down Beale Street with its historic blues clubs and restaurants dishing up Memphis-style barbecue and soul food, or to check out the elegant Peabody Hotel’s famed ducks marching down a red carpet each morning to the lobby fountain. To find your way around these and other major attractions in Memphis, follow this self-guided introduction walk!