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<p>The historic Orpheum Theatre, located right on Beale Street, is a historic Memphis landmark. The theater began as the Grand Opera House in 1890 and was a part of the Vaudeville circuit. In 1907 the theater’s name changed to The Orpheum after the vaudeville circuit it was part of. However, the original building burnt to the ground in 1923. In 1928 the building would be rebuilt and look totally different. The 1.8 million dollar theater design would channel the common movie palace designs of that era. It would contain large draperies, chandeliers, and a Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. From the 1940s to the 1970s it would be used predominantly as a movie theater.</p><p>The theater sold in 1976 and was saved from demolition by the Memphis Development Foundation because they wanted to refurbish it to bring Broadway productions to the city. In 1982 it received 5 million dollars worth of renovations including lighting, orchestra pit expansion, restroom and dressing room upgrades. It re-opened in 1984. From 1996-1997 it underwent an additional 8 million dollar upgrade the gold-leafed the walls, provided new updated technology, and extended the stage to accommodate more Broadway productions like Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast. Nowadays the theater is a venue for around 8 Broadway shows a year, concerts, and the Memphis Ballet and Opera Memphis.</p>

The Orpheum Theatre was built in 1928 and restored in the 1980s.

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The Orpheum Theatre is located in Memphis, TN at the intersection of Beale and Maine Streets. The original theater opened at this location in 1890 and featured musicians, magicians, and singers in its regular lineup of vaudeville performances. This theater was destroyed by fire, but in 1928, the current building opened with a grand celebration. In the middle of the century, the theater was used primarily for movies. In recent years, the restored theater serves as a venue for major events and touring productions. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its Renaissance Revival architecture and the social and political role it played in the city's history.

Orpheum Theatre

This short walking tour travels up the most famous street in Memphis with stops at a variety of historic buildings, markers, monuments, and museums. From historic businesses to music and civil rights, each location on this tour shares something unique that demonstrates the history of Memphis.  

Beale Street Walking Tour

Designs for the landing were submitted via an international design competition. The contest was the first to be held in Memphis' history that sought plans for a major public/private capital investment project. Over 170 designs were submitted to the Riverfront Development Corporation, who sponsored the competition along with the American Institute of Architects and the UrbanArt Commission. Plans were submitted from twenty-eight states across the country and 20 countries worldwide. The competition was judged by an assortment of respected architects, landscape architects, and urban planners.&nbsp;

Beale Street Landing is situated at the foot of Beale Street along the Mississippi River in Memphis, TN. The project took nearly a decade to complete at a cost of forty-three million dollars and officially opened in June 2014. The landing boasts a floating dock, complete with a helical ramp, so that riverboats such as the "American Queen" may dock at the facility. The landing features a grass rooftop, which connects to Tom Lee Park, and a unique elevator shaft that was painted to mirror the colors of the river sunset. 

Beale Street Landing 

<span><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Owned and operated by Ruben Cherry in the 1940’s, the Blues Record Shop was known as the South’s largest record shop. The reason for its popularity was that even though it was known for blues music, the owner, Cherry, had kept a variety of different genres on the shelf. Any person could walk into and out of the shop and be satisfied that they had found their type of music. The shop was so popular that famous stars such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley would stop by and browse through the place. Johnny Cash had such a fondness for the record shop that he even recorded a song about how you could find him at the Home of the Blues. Other famous artists and figures would frequently visit the place, including Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Wilson, and others. The record shop had to be moved from Beale Street to Main Street to expand because of the increased public interest in the store.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Cherry loved music so much, particularly Black music, that he decided to start his own record label company. The company was called Home of the Blues Co. and opened in the 1960’s with Cherry’s new partner Roy Brown. Cherry and Brown founded their company on recording Black performers like the Five Royals and even locals such as Willie Mitchell. Mitchell’s band agreed to be the studio’s band and perform in every song the&nbsp;Home&nbsp;of the Blues recorded. However, some of the early recordings were not even recorded in the Home of the Blues Co. In the early stages of the company, songs produced by the record label company were recorded at the Fernwood Records Studio.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Over time, the Home of the Blues record label company grew more popular. Cherry’s aunt, Celia Camp, helped with finances as well as getting the name of the company out in front of the public. In mid 1961, Camp and Cherry would try to expand the company by setting up secondary labels to help issue the music. The secondary labels backed the distribution financially as well as had authority over what was being produced and released. The Zab, Rufus, Six-O-Six (the name of Cherry’s childhood address), and 1st Records labels were the names of the independent distributors and producers that would issue the music for Camp and Cherry. &nbsp;It was in November 1961 when Vee Jay’s president Ewart Abner made a deal with Cherry’s record company to be their only distributor, ending several labels that had previous reign over the music. Vee Jay’s contract then morphed into a contract with ABC-Paramount Records to become the main distributor.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;However, the music industry was a competitive place and Memphis was the epicenter of record companies. Due to the competition of record companies such as Stax Records, Sun Studio, and Hi Records, the Home of Blues record company folded. Although the record company closed, Cherry continued to sell all of his records at his record shop. Ruben Cherry did this until his death in 1976, having a total of twenty-seven years in the record industry.</p><div><br></div></span>

Owned and operated by Ruben Cherry, the Home of the Blues was deemed the South's largest record store. Being located on Beale Street, as well as selling a variety of genres, gave the store a multi-racial customer base. Cherry loved music so much he decided to make a record company called Home of the Blues Record Co. While the record company was short lived, it had some success during its time. Co-owned by Ruben Cherry and Roy Brown, the company recorded artists such as the Royal Five.

Home of the Blues Records

<div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Beale Street in Memphis, TN is a historic street that has been around since 1841. Originally called Beale Avenue, it was developed by Robertson Topp as a merchant shop district due to its closeness to the Mississippi River Delta traffic and trading posts. By the 1860s many African American bands started playing in some of the clubs located on the street. The Young Men's Brass Band, formed by Sam Thomas in 1867, was the first group to draw crowds on Beale Street. After that, the area started to flourish and more theater's and parks were opened. Beale Street soon became a popular spot for African American musicians, especially Jazz. By the 1900s, most of the clubs and restaurants were actually owned by African Americans; in fact, the anti-segregationist paper "Free Speech,", co-owned and edited by journalist and suffragist Ida B. Wells, was headquartered on Beale Street. Beale Street became home to the “Memphis Blues” sound, developed by prominent jazz musicians. Key blues figures such as Rosco Gordon, Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Albert King, and Rufus Thomas performed on Beale Street into the 1940s. <br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; In the mid 1960s, the once thriving street became severely ran down and most every shop and restaurant was boarded up due to mismanaged urban renewal project. Even though most of Beale Street was not being used, it was still made a National Historic Landmark in 1966. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group of people developed the 'Beale Street Development Corporation' and dedicated themselves to get the area back up and running.</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Thanks to the 'Beale Street Development Corporation, today, the area is a thriving area that pays homage to its historic blues roots. There are several shops and restaurants on the street as well as historic locations. Beale Street has made such a comeback, that it is Tennesse's most visited attraction. The street is family-friendly, with the famous Orpheum Theatre and A.Schwab’s general store, as well as other attractions. The B.B. King;s Blues Club is somewhere to catch dinner and tells the overview of Memphis' music history. However, on Friday and Saturday nights, children under 21 can not be on Beale Street after 11 pm.<br></div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Beale Street has live music performances every day, but once a year there is the Beale Street Music Festival. The festival is held in May at the Tom Lee Park by the Mississippi River and ran by the Memphis in May International Festival Inc. The festival is a three-day event, with more than 60 top artists performing. The Beale Street Music Festival draws in thousands of fans and is Beale Street's largest event.&nbsp;<br></div><div><br></div>

 The historically famous street, home of the blues and barbeque, is located right in downtown Memphis, Tennessee off of Main Street. Beale Street stretches 1.8 miles through the heart of downtown. The thoroughfare was constructed in 1841 by property developer Robertson Topp (1807-1876) and extended from the Mississippi River to Memphis' East Side. From the traveling African American musicians in the 1860s to tourists today, Beale Street remains a focal point in Memphis. 

Beale Street 

Hotel Clark was founded by Hartman Clark in the 1930s. It provided accommodations for African Americans in Memphis between the Great Depression and the 1960s. The hotel had about a dozen rooms and provided accommodations for traveling musicians such as Count Basie. Today, the building is home to Blues Clubs and the hotel rooms, now used for storage, are still evident above the club. 

Hotel Clark

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A. Schwab’s historic General Store has stood the test of time on Beale Street in downtown Memphis, TN and is a great historical stop when visiting the area.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A man named Abraham Schwab in 1876 founded the store. He was a Jewish Immigrant who would bring a legendary store to the Memphis area. This store is the only original store on historic Beale Street in Downtown Memphis. The store opened as a men’s haberdashery, began selling dry goods, and transitioned to selling memorabilia and trinket oddities. It was the only store that remained open during the closure and boarding up of most of the stores during the late 1960s and 1970s.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The store is a three-story legend in the town. Schwab’s sells a very wide range of goods. It has everything from food, candy, clothing, and tons of Memphis souvenirs. The store also sells records, voodoo/magic potions, and Sun Records memorabilia. The store also contains several historic artifacts pertaining to the store and area like vintage cash registers, time clocks, and scales. There is also a vintage style soda shop on the bottom floor to round out the cultural experience with the past. The Schwab family sold the business in late 2011 but the current owners continue to uphold the values and traditions so closely associated with A. Schwab.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A. Schwab’s is a great authentic and historic place to visit and experience what a dry good/general store was really like in the Memphis region from the past.</p><p>*Please note that the store's website is not working as of November&nbsp;2017.</p>

A. Schwab is a dry goods shop located along Beale Street in Memphis, TN. The store was opened by Jewish immigrant Abraham Schwab in 1876 and is the only remaining original business on the street. For these reasons, it is a contributing property to the Beale Street Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A. Schwab's General Store

<span><p>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum chronicles the history of the city and its popular music reputation. The museum gathered music from the rural porch of the sharecroppers in the 30’s and the urban scene of Beale Street in the 40’s. The museum also includes Memphis icons like the Sun and Stax Records.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The museum offers a comprehensive Memphis music experience from the rural field hollers and sharecroppers of the 1930s, through the explosion of Sun, Stax and Hi Records and Memphis’ musical heyday in the 70s, all the way to its global musical influence. The museum’s digital audio tour guide is packed with over 300 minutes of information, including over 100 songs. The guided tour takes visitors at their own pace through seven galleries featuring three audio visual programs, more than 30 instruments, 40 costumes and other musical treasures from the various eras of music in the city of Memphis.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum was founded on April 29, 2000. Since then, the museum has harbored over 200,000 visitors from all over the world. Students from all over the world have come to the museum to learn about how rock ‘n’ roll helped develop the American culture and the social changes it presented. Furthermore, the museum holds the intricate stories of the musicians and people who overcame socioeconomic and racial barriers to bring their own expression of themselves into the world in the form of music. Whether it was rockabilly, soul, jazz, country, or gospel, Memphis was the place where you could get a chance to make your own name--and the museum proudly tells these stories.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The museum has been dubbed “first born” of the Smithsonian Institution and was built and designed by the National Museum of American History to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1996. It was also the Smithsonian’s first permanent institution outside of New York and D.C. The value that the museum adds to both music and the city of Memphis shows testament to how great the impact the music that came out of the region had on the rest of America.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In 1990, the National Museum of American History began a project to create an exhibition on American Music. It would often return back to the Mississippi Delta area and also Memphis, where it famously declared the region having the roots of America’s music. The project sought to fuse together all of the sounds of the region. From the field hollers filled with blues, gospel, and country songs, to the urban jazz music that made Beale Street so famous; from Sun Studio, with its rock ‘n’ roll Elvis and folk Johnny Cash, to Stax Recording and Hi Records with its soulful rhythm and blues music. All of these would be combined into making a museum that could celebrate all of the rich and beautiful music that existed all in one big city. </p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The museum is open and running today. It has moved location from its original spot, from the Gibson building to the FedEx forum in Memphis, near where the Memphis Grizzlies play professional basketball. </p><div><span><br></span></div></span>

The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum chronicles the origins of rock and soul music and that unique "Memphis Sound" that was created by W.C. Handy and so many other great musicians. The museum was initially started as a project in celebration of the Smithsonian Institution's 150th anniversary. The project's goal was to tell the story of musical pioneers who came to Memphis and often overcame racial and socioeconomic barriers to create the music that changed how the entire world dressed, walked, and talked. 

Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum

This is the location of Ida Wells' newspaper The Memphis Free Speech. On March 9, Wells wrote an article that challenged the interpretation of a recent lynching. Although white residents accused Black men of a heinous attack on three white women, Wells believed that the charges were not only false, but fabricated in order to intimidate Black men. Her article documented how many Black men were accused of crimes with little more than circumstantial evidence. She also had the courage to document how white mobs often took the law into their own hands rather than allowing the accused to have their day in court. Wels' article so upset many in Memphis that her was destroyed and she was forced to flee Memphis for her life. However, the experience also inspired Wells to devote much of her life to publicizing the crime of lynching. Wells also fought for voting rights and equality in public accommodations and was one of the founding members of the NAACP. 

Office of Ida Wells' Newspaper, The Memphis Free Speech

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The theatre was built in 1912 and opened in 1913 and it seats about 600 people. The theatre is a very good representation of the Nickelodeon style architecture that was so popular for theatres at the time. The outside features a well-preserved ticket booth and elaborate half dome entrance. The internal structure of the building is as unique as the outside. There is no lobby in the Old Daisy Theatre. The theatre can be entered on both sides of the ticket booth on the outside and when entering the theatre from the hallways you are facing the audience. There is also a small balcony and a smaller stage. The unique design of the building is due to the fact that the fire escapes have to lead to the back of the building and out into the alley behind the theatre.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the late 1930s, a new theatre was built just across the street called the “New Daisy.” The Old Daisy theatre would still remain a venue for performances but mainly on the African American “Chitlin’ Circuit.” In the 1980s it was renovated and became home to Beale Street Blues Museum. Now it is used for banquets and entertainment.</p>

The historic Daisy Theatre, now known as “Old Daisy,” is a located in the heart of Memphis on historic Beale Street.

Historic Daisy Theatre

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The
historic New Daisy Theatre, offspring of the Old Daisy Theatre, is a prominent
venue for concerts and other entertainment.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The
“New Daisy” was constructed and opened in 1937. Despite it’s name it is newer
than its predecessor that is located across the street and was built in 1913.
The New Daisy is quite a but larger than its predecessor. Its seating capacity
is at about 1,110 people, which is about twice as much as the Old Daisy
theatre. It has played host to numerous concerts and even boxing matches. It
was originally built as a movie theatre but by the 1970s it became primarily a
concert venue.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The
theatre has been around for over 77 years and has recently undergone extensive
renovations to spruce up the inside and outside of the venue. The new owners
want to make the New Daisy more of a prominent concert and event venue to
compete with other places in the area. </p>

The historic New Daisy Theatre, offspring of the Old Daisy Theatre, is a prominent venue for concerts and other entertainment.

New Daisy Theatre

<div>In 1902, Handy traveled throughout Mississippi, where he listened to the various Black popular musical styles. The state was mostly rural, and music was part of the culture, especially of the Mississippi Delta cotton plantation areas. Musicians usually played the guitar, banjo and to a much lesser extent, the piano. Handy's remarkable memory enabled him to recall and transcribe the music heard in his travels. Handy resigned his teaching position to rejoin the Mahara Minstrels and tour the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. In 1903 he became the director of a Black band organized by the Knights of Pythias, located in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Handy and his family lived there for six years.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In 1909 Handy and his band moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where they started playing at clubs on Beale Street. The 1912 publication of his "Memphis Blues" sheet music introduced his style of 12-bar blues; it was credited as the inspiration for the foxtrot dance step by Vernon and Irene Castle, a New York–based dance team. Some consider it to be the first blues song. Handy sold the rights to the song for US$100. By 1914, when Handy was 40, he had established his musical style, his popularity increased significantly, and he composed prolifically. Handy would move to New York City, but he always stressed the importance of Memphis to his style of music which became known as "Memphis Blues."&nbsp;</div>

Composer W.C. Handy was one of the most influential musicians in world history. His music is deeply embedded into the very fabric of Memphis and is the person most responsible for making Beale Street famous. Handy is widely regarded as the "Father of the Blues" and guests to this modest house museum can tour the place where he wrote many of his most beloved songs.  

Beale Street Walking Tour

Orpheum Theatre

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information