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Memphis Comes to Life |
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...Street
Scenes from 1870 to 1915 |
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From
1906 to 1910, a photographer made a series of incredible 8 x
10 glass plate photos of Memphis Street Scenes.
They contained such amazing detail that one could find many
little scenes throughout the photo. Regrettably the
photographer or photographers of these photos is unknown, but
almost everyone knows the photos. We have used these
photos and others as the starting point for this page - a page
showing close-up street scenes all over downtown -
a different side of early Memphis.
Click on the small photo on the right and it will enlarge to
the full size of 2700 x 3261 and 1.41 MB
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Click for
FULL SIZE |
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The amazing close-up of a horse and carriage on the right,
was "lifted" from the FULL SIZE photo above. Many
similar scenes have been found in the details of the
original series of 8 x 10 glass photos and have been
featured on this page. We
have also added many scenes from other vintage photos.
It's an excellent way of showing the folks of Memphis at the turn of
the century.
During this period, it was also a practice to have
employees stand outside a business for a "formal
portrait". We have included a number of close-ups of
these business photos. |
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Chick on Small Photos for an enlargement |
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1880 Robt Church |
C. 1886
Boehler's - W. Court |
1887
Breton's Bakery-Beale |
1888
Floyd's - Main |
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1891
Repair Main Street |
1891
Repair Street |
1891
S.C.Toof - 2nd St. |
1895
Main - Gayoso |
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1895
- Taxi-Court Square |
c.1899-
Main-Beale |
1894-99 John K. Speed - Front |
1899
Schwab's on Beale |
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1880 -
Elmwood Cemetery |
1891 Peabody - Main |
1895 Madison-Front |
1891 - 2nd Street |
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1902 Riser Grocery -
Main
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1902 Riser Grocery -
Main |
1902 Cowles Drugs |
1902 -
Beale Jug Band |
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c. 1902 Poplar Line |
1900s
. Riverboat workers |
1902
Main-Madison |
1900
Court Square |
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1906 Main St
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1906 - Main St. |
1906 Main St. |
1906 Main St. |
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1906 Main St. |
1906 Court and 2nd |
1906 Court and 2nd |
1906 Main St. |
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1906 Cobblestones |
1906 Cobblestones |
1906 Front St. |
1906 Front St |
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1907 Main & Calhoun |
1907 Main & Calhoun |
1907 Main & Calhoun |
c.1907 -Memphis Press |
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1908
Main St. |
1908
Watching at Wharf |
1908
Tony's Saloon |
1908-
Gillis Bros - Beale |
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1908 -
MHS Football Team |
1909 UCV
Parade |
1909 -
Fireworks on Bluff |
1909-Pres Taft -Mayor Malone |
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Parade group |
1909
Parade |
1909
Parade |
1909
Main St. |
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1910 Madison |
1910 Main |
1910 Zoo |
Court Square
- Squirrels |
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1910 Cobblestones |
1910 Cobblestones |
1910 Cobblestones |
1910 Cobblestones |
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1910 Cobblestones |
1910 Cobblestones |
1910 Cobblestones |
1910 Cobblestones |
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1910 Gayoso Hotel |
1910 Gayoso |
1910 Main |
1910 Gayoso Alley |
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1910 Gayoso Hotel |
1910 Madison Av |
1910 Madison |
1910 Madison |
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1910 Ferry
to Arkansas |
1910 East
End Park |
1910 East
End Park |
1910 East
End Park |
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1910
Postal-Telegraph |
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1911 Main |
1911 Bower's
Grocery |
1912 Flood |
c.1911 -
Court Square |
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1912 Tri-State Fair |
1912 Tri-State Fair |
1912 Tri-State Fair |
1912 Tri-State Fair |
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1912 Madison |
1911 Overton
Park |
1912 - Main |
1912 - Main |
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1913 Horse-carriage |
1913 Shelby Co
School Wagon |
c.1913 . Conf. Park Esplanade |
1913 Flood - Poplar Av |
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| 1913 L - N
Depot |
1914 Central Station |
1914 S. Main |
1913 L-N
Depot |
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1914 Sunset on
the Levee |
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1914 Taxi on Poplar Av |
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Nicholson
Pavement ... Plus ...
It's
evident in many of the close-up photos above that early Memphis was a
filthy city. And it was also a foul-smelling city.
There was no organized sanitation collection and the streets
were paved with "Nicholson" - wood blocks soaked in creosote
and
embedded in earth and gravel. Rain made this pavement particularly messy and
dirty. When the sun came out, it became smelly and
dusty. Add that to Memphis humidity... Wow! |
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Detail
showing "Nicholson" |
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About 1900
Memphis began removing the Nicholson pavement and replacing it with
standard bricks. Strangely they only replaced the Nicholson on
one side of the street at a time. It would be years
before the other side was replaced. This accounts for so many
of the photos above showing the streets torn up. |
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...and those unsightly awnings ?
What were they thinking? Didn't anyone take a look at the
total picture? Downtown Memphis kept the Awning Companies
in business. Every store sported an array of large, brightly
colored awnings - often tattered and flapping in the breeze.
It was an aesthetics mess! We think it was E. H. Crump who
took a good look and said "Enough!" . But we haven't been
able to find any verifiable information on this. Stores
did continue to have awnings but they were coordinated and less
obvious with less of a slant. They became far less noticeable
in photos after 1930. |
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Credits |
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The
Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted
photos and material without permission or credit.
On
occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we
were unable to find a name to give credit. Because of the nature of
our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly
believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use. We have
certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website
for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited. If by
chance,
we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll
remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your
choice. In the past, we have found that many photographers
volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll
also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular
page. |
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The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the
following for their contributions which helped make this website
possible:
Memphis
Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library,
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County
Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's
Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission,
Memphis Film Commision, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical
Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District,
Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance
Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of
Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew,
George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is
acknowledged on the pages of their contributions. Special
thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche
access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.
We do not have high definition copies of the photos on these
pages. If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,
you'll have to contact the photographer or the collector.
(To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not
maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us). |
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