Local Stories in Shelby County
Tennessee·27 places·Page 2 of 2
History
The Tom Lee Memorial
Tom Lee Park, on the Memphis riverfront, is named for a man who saved 32 people from the Mississippi without being able to swim. On May 8, 1925, the M.E. Norman, an Army Corps of Engineers sternwheeler carrying engineers and their families, capsized near Cow Island Bend, about fifteen miles below the city, with about 75 people aboard.
Music History
WDIA At 2074 Union
WDIA's original studios were at 2074 Union Avenue in Midtown Memphis, and it was to this address, not the famous neon sign at 112 Union, that a young B.B. King walked in late 1948 or early 1949. WDIA went on the air on June 7, 1947, owned by two white businessmen, John Pepper and Bert Ferguson. On October 25, 1948, Ferguson put Nat D.
Elsewhere in Tennessee
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop is an audio tour guide app that tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
