Memphis

Memphis
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memphis_skyline_pyramid.jpg
Author: Thomas R Machnitzki


Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee, and the third largest in the Southeast United States. The city has a population of about 670,000, within a metropolitan area of 1,281,000 people. It is the second largest metropolitan in Tennessee after Nashville.

Memphis is the youngest of the four major cities of Tennessee, the others being Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. The city is located on a buff rising from the Mississippi River. It was a site of a Chickasaw Native American settlement when Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arrived there in the 16th century.

The city of Memphis was founded by John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson in 1819. As it was located beside a mighty river, it was named Memphis after the ancient Egyptian city beside the Nile. Due to its location high above the Mississippi River, Memphis was flood free, making it ideal for a transportation hub. Memphis had the only railroad across the southern states to be constructed before the Civil War.

By the turn of the 20th century, Memphis had become the largest market for cotton and hardwood lumber. In the 1950's, it also had the largest mule market in the world. The city was a base for the civil rights movement. It was also in Memphis that Martin Luther King, Jr., was assissinated, on 4 April, 1968.

Memphis is itched into the American culture as the hotbed for music, having produced numerous musical greats such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, and more.

Hernando de Soto Bridge, between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_Bridge
Author: USchick


Graceland, home of the late musical legend, Elvis Presley, in Memphis, Tennessee
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graceland2008.jpg
Author: jbcurio

Travel to Memphis

By Plane
Memphis International Airport is the world's busiest cargo airport, being the primary distribution center for FedEx. It is also a hub for Delta Airlines, which controls 90% of all air passenger traffic passing through the airport.

To leave the airport, you have the option of taking the taxi or limousine or renting a car. There are also shuttle services for hire, if you come in a group. These can be prearrange.

Taxi
The taxi booth is at the Terminal B baggage claim area on the ground floor. The approximate far to downtown Memphis is $30.00.

Car Rental Here are some of the car rental companies. The companies are located outside the airport. You can use the courtesy phones within the baggage claim area to contact them, and they will send a courtesy shuttle to fetch you. As the rental charges different company to company, check around.

• Alamo Phone: (901) 345 0070, (800) 462 5266
  
  
• Avis Phone: (901) 345 6129, (800) 577 1521
  
  
• Budget Phone: (901) 398 8888, (800) 527 0700
  
  
• Dollar Phone: (901) 346 3290, (800) 434 2226
  
  
• Enterprise Phone: (901) 396 3736, (877) 283 0898
  
  
• Hertz Phone: (901) 345 5680, (800) 654 3131
  
  
• National Car Rental Phone: (901) 345 0070, (888) 501 9010
  
  
• Thrifty Phone: (901) 345 0170, (877) 283 0898
  
  

Tennessee Welcome Sign on the Hernando de Soto Bridge
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tn_welcome.jpg
Author: Scott5114


By Road
Interstate 40 and 55 are the two highways to Memphis. Parking in Memphis is usually free outside of downtown. By Train
Amtrak has a service going up and down the Mississippi, from Chicago to New Orleans, passing through Memphis.

Travel within Memphis

The most practical way to move about Memphis is to drive, as the bus service in the city is quite inadequate.

Places of Interest in Memphis

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.