Driving Around Downtown Memphis, Tennessee in 4k Video

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Filmed on Tuesday, September 3 2024, I drive around Downtown Memphis, TN to see what's going on.
Memphis was named after the ancient capital of Egypt.
In the Treaty of Tuscaloosa, signed in October 1818, the Chickasaw ceded their territory in Western Tennessee to the United States. The city of Memphis was founded less than five months after the U.S. takeover of the territory.
Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861, and Memphis briefly became a Confederate stronghold. Union ironclad gunboats captured it in the naval Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, and the city and state were occupied by the Union Army for the duration of the war.
The Union Army's presence attracted many fugitive slaves who had escaped from surrounding rural plantations. Memphis's black population increased from 3,000 in 1860 to nearly 20,000 in 1865.
By 1870, Memphis's total population of 40,000 was almost double that of Nashville and Atlanta, and it was the second-largest city in the South after New Orleans.
By this time, Memphis had earned a reputation as a sickly and filthy city. It was unheard of for a city with a population as large as Memphis's not to have any waterworks; the city still relied entirely on collecting water from the river and rain cisterns, and had no way to remove sewage.
On August 23, 1878, the Board of Health declared a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, and the city collapsed, hemorrhaging its population. In July of that year, the city had a population of 47,000; by September, 19,000 remained, and 17,000 of them had yellow fever. The only people left in the city were those who did not have the means to flee.
On October 28, a killing frost struck, ending the epidemic after 20,000 deaths and $200 million in financial losses. Over the next year property tax revenues collapsed, and the city could not make payments on its municipal debts. As a result, Memphis temporarily lost its city charter.
Memphis developed into the world's largest spot cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market, both commodity products of the Mississippi Delta. Into the 1950s, it was also the world's largest mule market.
During the 1960s, the city was at the center of the civil rights movement.
In 1968, the Memphis sanitation strike began for living wages and better working conditions; the workers were overwhelmingly African American.
Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis to lend his support to the workers' cause. King stayed at the Lorraine Motel, and was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968.
After learning of King's murder, many African Americans in the city rioted, looting and destroying businesses and other facilities, some by arson. The governor ordered Tennessee National Guardsmen into the city within hours.
Today, Memphis plays a large role as a transportation corridor. River barges are unloaded onto trucks and trains, and the city is home to Memphis International Airport, the world's busiest cargo airport. Memphis serves as a primary hub for FedEx Express shipping.
Memphis is the home of founders and pioneers of various American music genres, including Memphis soul, Memphis blues, gospel, rock n' roll, rockabilly, Memphis rap, and more.
Many musicians, including Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Shawn Lane, Al Green, Bobby Whitlock, Rance Allen, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, William Bell, Sam & Dave and B.B. King, got their start in Memphis in the 1950s and 1960s.
Beale Street is a national historical landmark, and shows the impact Memphis has had on American blues. Sam Phillips' Sun Studio still stands, and is open for tours. Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison all made their first recordings there.
Memphis rap culture significantly influenced rap culture worldwide. Justin Timberlake was born and raised in Memphis.
Memphis-style barbecue is one of four predominant regional styles of barbecue in the United States. Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made using pork, usually ribs and shoulders. Memphis-style barbecue is slow cooked in a pit and ribs can be prepared either "dry" or "wet". "Dry" ribs are covered with a dry rub consisting of salt and various spices before cooking and are normally eaten without sauce. "Wet" ribs are brushed with sauce before, during, and after cooking.
Novelist John Grisham grew up in nearby DeSoto County, Mississippi, and sets many of his books in Memphis.
Memphis is home to Graceland, the private residence of Elvis Presley.
The Memphis Pyramid houses the world's largest Bass Pro Shop, an observation deck, restaurants, bowling alley, aquarium, and hotel. It was originally built as a 20,000 seat sports arena.
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