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by freyapix

Article by Milton Sandy

What does Memphis, Tennessee share with major cities like Chicago? A truly significant number of historic structures would be the result of the query. The city can boast of over eleven thousand national register listings. While historic examples can be seen everywhere, Memphis doesn’t feature just one style. As the city has experienced ups and downs financially and the effects of both World Wars and the Great Depression, the design of both commercial and residential buildings has been altered. A sometimes faltering struggle to inject Modernism into architectural design can also be evidenced in structures throughout the inner city and suburbs.

The predictable growth of Memphis, central hub for Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee was hampered in the 1870s by a series of epidemics that cut the population almost in half, reducing it to 32,000. Everything slowed down, including building projects as the city worked hard just to survive. Homes prior to the epidemics can still be viewed, especially in the midtown area. Federal Brick architecture and Italian Villa style can be seen around Memphis. Victorian, Italian, and French designs can be appreciated in Central Gardens, the Evergreen Historic District, and Annesdale Park.

By the 1890s, functionality had become more important in architectural design. Superflous architectural flourishes died off as an emphasis on regularity and volume came into vogue. Modernism had begun to influence the designs of both houses and commercial business properties, including factories. Steel buildings replaced older structures along the venerable Memphis streets of Union Ave,Main st., and Madison. Other older buildings were resurfaced to appear modern. Memphis counted it’s first skyscraper by 1914. The emergence of the streetcar also allowed the first development of Memphis’s future historic home in subdivisions such as Central Gardens and Annesdale Park.

Blue collar communities established themselves in that area. Higher end properties can also been seen with expensive materials and spacious yards. Crafts man style and Greek Revival designs were prevalent in the lower level dwellings. Occasionally, an imitation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School style was also interspersed, boasting bands of wooden casement windows, horizontal lines, and deep overhanging roofs.Practical housing projects were also pursued, but the city didn’t start zoning until 1924.

Atypically for Memphis, Memphis led the nation in focusing on the design of smaller affordable homes. The Memphis small builder’s association published a catalogue with more than a hundred design plans costing less than six grand. Also, local architects offered their services at a reduced rate. Memphis’s special interest in home ownership dates from the Great Depression.

Patriotic fervor during the Second World War slowed adoption of modern European design. Too much negative association slowed interest in International design. However, in the late 1950s, Mies van der Rohe made an attempt to reinvent modern architecture with 1-2 story steel framed houses with glass-curtained walls and free standing central stairways. Not really popular, the effort gradually died out in Memphis realty although his work can still be seen there today.

Memphis currently benefits from a slow and steady appreciation in the housing market. Memphis has rejuvanated itself starting with a downtown renaissance and working its way west. Older buildings are being saved with Midtown especially retaining an antebellum grace. In the far east, faux-estates with acreage abound. Memphis offers homes in every price range, but is generally know for it’s reasonable prices with luxury homes with river views available for around a million in many cases. With pro-sports teams, museums, year-round festivals, cultural activities, and southern ambiance, Memphis Tennessee offers a great place to settle in and raise a family.

That’s a basic description of the history of Memphis realty.

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