National Civil Rights Museum

Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7:05 p.m. He was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, at London's Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States and charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and to be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful. Ray died in prison in 1998.The King family and others believe that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy involving the U.S. government, the mafia, and Memphis police, as alleged by Loyd Jowers in 1993. They believe that Ray was a scapegoat. In 1999, the family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Jowers for the sum of $10 million. During closing arguments, their attorney asked the jury to award damages of $100, to make the point that "it was not about the money". During the trial, both sides presented evidence alleging a government conspiracy. The accused government agencies could not defend themselves or respond because they were not named as defendants. Based on the evidence, the jury concluded that Jowers and others were "part of a conspiracy to kill King" and awarded the family the symbolic $100 they requested in damages. The allegations and the finding of the Memphis jury were later disputed by the United States Department of Justice in 2000 due to perceived lack of evidence.The assassination was one of four major assassinations of the 1960s in the United States, coming several years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and two months before the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968.

The South Main Street Historic District in Memphis, Tennessee, is located south of the city's central business district encompassing over 100 mostly commercial buildings spread across 11 blocks. The area was constructed between 1900 and 1930 in a wide range of early-twentieth-century architectural styles including Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival, Art Deco and Chicago Commercial. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as an area of Memphis representing the impact of the railroad on the city during the a period of railroad-led prosperity that ended with the Great Depression. The district includes the Lorraine Motel, constructed in 1925, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. The South Main Arts District is a smaller area within the historic district. The district is also a City of Memphis local historic district or Historic Overlay District.

The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980, it honors people who have performed, recorded, or documented blues. The museum opened to the public on May 8, 2015.

The South Main Arts District in Memphis, Tennessee makes up the southern portion of Downtown Memphis. It is located along South Main Street and is within the South Main Street Historic District.

Memphis Central Station, referred to as Grand Central Station prior to 1944, is a passenger terminal in Memphis, Tennessee. Located along Main Street and G.E. Patterson Boulevard in Downtown Memphis, it currently a service stop for Amtrak's City of New Orleans route, arriving in late evening northbound and in the morning southbound. It is also served by the MATA Trolley system. The building was opened in 1914, and is located within the city's South Main Arts District. It is also an contributing property to the South Main Street Historic District of the National Register of Historic Places, as are the National Civil Rights Museum and other historic properties within the district boundaries.

Memphis Union Station was a passenger terminal in Memphis, Tennessee. It served as a hub between railroads of the Southwest, the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and railroads of the Southeast, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway and the Southern Railway. The terminal, completed in 1912, was built in the Beaux-Arts style and was located on Calhoun Street, between south Second Street and Rayburn Boulevard (now south Third Street). It was demolished in 1969. This location in south Memphis was approximately two blocks east of the other major Memphis railroad terminal, Memphis Grand Central Station.

The John Alexander Austin House is a historic house in Memphis, Tennessee. It was built circa 1876 for John Alexander Austin, a veteran of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and a clothing retailer. It was designed in the Italianate architectural style. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since July 12, 1984.

Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis. It is home to the Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team.

The Tennessee Brewery building stands at the intersection of Butler and Tennessee streets in Memphis, Tennessee. It is directly on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The building once housed the Tennessee Brewing Company, a leader in early brewery production.

Tom Lee Park is a city park located to the immediate west of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, overlooking the Mississippi River. Encompassing about 30 acres (12 ha) parallel to the Mississippi River for about one mile (1.6 km), it offers panoramic views of the Mississippi River and the shores of Arkansas on the opposite side. The park is named after Tom Lee, an African-American riverworker, who saved the lives of 32 passengers of the sinking steamboat M.E. Norman in 1925. Tom Lee Park is a popular location for walkers, joggers, roller bladers and cyclists, and hosts one event per year, the Beale Street Music Festival that kicks off Memphis in May. In 2023, the Tom Lee Park was redesigned by Studio Gang and SCAPE, creating new pavilions and recreation areas, including basketball courts and playground equipment.

One Beale is a proposed four-phase development in Memphis, Tennessee. Located at the corner of Beale Street and Riverside, the $400 million riverfront development located in downtown Memphis will include high-end apartments, a full-service Hyatt hotel, and space for restaurants and events stretching 5.5 acres from Beale Street to Pontotoc Avenue and along Front Street and west to the Mississippi River. As of October 2020, One Beale had three phases under construction valued at $200 million with another $200 million in the development pipeline.

The Orpheum Theatre, a 2,308-seat venue listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, on the southwest corner of the intersection of South Main and Beale streets. The Orpheum, along with the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education, compose the Orpheum Theatre Group, a community-supported nonprofit corporation that operates and maintains the venues and presents education programs.