Memphis is one of the largest cities in the US state of Tennessee. The Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto came here as the first European in 1541, but it lasted until 1797 before United States established Fort Adams on the site where Memphis was founded as a city in 1819 and named after Memphis in Egypt. The city grew rapidly due to cotton production in the American South and Memphis’ good location on the Mississippi River and the later railroad network.

Memphis was occupied by the northern states during the American Civil War, but the following decades the city was in decline with an epidemic of yellow fever and other things. Growth returned to Memphis in the late 1890s, and it accelerated through the 20th century, when the city became known as the home of Elvis Presley and of the death of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Today you can take some nice walks in downtown Memphis, which is located along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. You can start at Memphis City Hall, which was built in 1966 in Brutalist architecture with marble on the concrete structure. You can see several contemporary buildings around the city hall, and the former Hotel Claridge from 1924 stands as a contrast from the city’s early skyscraper era. From the plaza north of City Hall, you can walk along a footbridge that leads to the Mud Island peninsula, which lies between the Mississippi and Wolf River Harbor.

On Mud Island you can visit the Mississippi River Museum, which has interesting exhibits about the great river and its history. There are i.a. a fine scale model of the river behind the museum, from which you can look out over the Mississippi and to the Hernando de Soto Bridge, which opened in 1973. From the footbridge, you can also look north to the Memphis Pyramid, one of the city’s most characteristic buildings.

Back in downtown, you can walk along N Main Street and other streets through Memphis’ business district with old and new high-rises. You can e.g. see the 111-meter Sterick Building, built in 1928-1930 as the city’s and state’s tallest skyscraper. From the same period stands the Lincoln American Tower from 1924 with a height of 88 meters, and along Court Square Park’s green area you can see the Exchange Building from 1910.

One of the most famous high-rises is The Peabody Hotel, which is a luxury hotel that opened in 1925. The hotel is known for its ducks that swim around the fountain in the lobby every day. The tradition of ducks started in the 1930s, when hotel manager Frank Schutt placed three ducks here after a hunt. Since then, a Duckmaster has been employed, and every day at 11.00 starts the Peabody Duck March, where the ducks are led from their penthouse residence via the elevator to the lobby accompanied by the King Cotton March.

There are several interesting museums in Memphis as well, of which the National Civil Rights Museum is among the most historically important. The museum describes the history of the civil rights struggle in the United States, and it is set up around the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot during his stay in the city in 1968. The museum is located close to the South Main Street Historic District, where you can see buildings from the first decades of the 20th century in the different styles of the time.

Low redstone buildings dominate the neighborhood, which is quite close to the city’s modern downtown, and along South Main Street you can also see Memphis’ Central Station, which was built in 1912-1914. In the street, you can also take a ride on the Main Street Line’s old museum streetcars that run north through downtown. It is also interesting to visit The Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange, where the story of the cotton industry is told, an industry which for many years has characterized Memphis and some of the other American states.

Of course, Memphis is also known as the home of many musicians. South of downtown’s high-rise buildings, you can get an overview of famous musicians at the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and close by is the Memphis Rock N’ Soul Museum, which is an interesting music museum. In the neighborhood you can also go to Elvis Presley Plaza, where there is a statue of Elvis and the city’s well-known Orpheum Theatre. You can visit Beale Street too, which arose as the center of the city’s blues music.

East of downtown you can see Sun Studio, which became famous as the studio where names like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash recorded some of their first music in the 1950s. Since the 1980s, the place has been open as a combined studio and museum. You should also take a trip south of the city, where Elvis Presley’s Graceland is Memphis’ biggest attraction.

The house Graceland was built in 1939, and Elvis bought it in 1957. Graceland opened as a museum in 1982, and on a visit, you can see the house and its surroundings, where Elvis’ grave is located. In the area there is also a museum, where Elvis’ cars, planes, and much more are on display.