Victorian Village
The Fontaine House
Built in 1870 in the French Victorian style.
In the area of Adams Avenue in Memphis, a number of landmark 19th century homes have been saved from destruction by interested citizens. Homes range in time from ca. 1846 to the 1890s, and in style from Neo-classical through Late Gothic Revival. The oldest home in the area, the Massey House (ca. 1846), was built for Benjamin A. Massey, an early Memphis lawyer. The Pillow-McIntyre House (ca. 1852) is a two-story Greek Revival home purchased in 1873 by Mexican War and Confederate General Gideon Pillow. It was for many years the home of the Memphis Art Association’s Free School. The Gingerbread Playhouse, behind the Fontaine House, was built in the 1890s by J. W. Handwerker, a pharmacist, for his children. It has also been used as an office and a

beauty parlor.
Noland Fontaine bought the Fontaine House, built in 1870, from Amos Woodruff in 1883. He was president of Hill, Fontaine & Co., at one time the world's third largest cotton company. The Fontaines lived in the house for 46 years.
The Hunt/Phelan House
The Hunt/Phelan House, “ A Treasure Trove” of 19th century magnificence.This 16-room reddish-brick house in the Federal style was built in two stages, the first in 1830 by George H. Whyett. The second stage, ca. 1855, added a twostory kitchen and service wing, and a two-story porch. In the early months of the Civil War, the house served as headquarters for Confederate General Leonidas Polk. After the Battle of Shiloh, Union General

Ulysses S. Grant used the house, planning the siege of Vicksburg in the parlor. The mansion also served as a Union hospital from 1863-1865. A tunnel under the house was part of the underground railroad through which slaves escaped and boarded boats for Illinois. The schoolhous behind the mansion was built for the Phelan children and the family’s slave children; it is the first school known to have educated blacks in Memphis.
In later years the house was occupied by northern teachers sent here to educate newly freed slaves.
Graceland, Home of Elvis Presley
"Graceland" Home of world-famous singer and movie star Elvis Presley, Graceland was built about 1940 by Grace Moore. She named the 20-room mansion Graceland after her husband’s niece, Grace Toof, whose family had built a cottage on the site earlier. Elvis bought the house in 1957, ten years after he moved to Memphis.
During the 1950s the “King” became a national and international hero of young people as rock ‘n’ roll’s

biggest star. Eventually, he sold over 500 million records and had more gold records (28) than anyone before him, and also made thirty-three movies. Guided tours of the home, featuring the trophy room, Hall of Gold, automobile collection, touring bus, and Conair jet (the “Lisa Marie”), also include the Meditation Garden where Elvis and his parents are buried. Elvis Presley died in 1977 but his fame lives after him as thousands visit his home each year.
Chucalissa Prehistoric Indian Village

Thatch-roofed structure at
Chucalissa Prehistoric
Indian Village.

Hundreds of years before Europeans came to America, Indians flourished along the eastern shore of the Mississippi River. These ancient peoples hunted, made tools of bone, stone and wood, were capable farmers, and lived in thatch-roofed homes. They built earthworks and worshipped the sun. Chucalissa is a working reconstruction of a 1,000-year-old Indian village that flourished here, with grass thatched huts, a temple, and a ceremonial burial ground. A museum at the site helps visitors understand its history. The name means “house abandoned” or “ deserted town” and was chosen for the site by its rebuilders. The original peoples were encountered by DeSoto in 1541, but had deserted the town by 1673 when the French arrived. Today Choctaw Indians live on the site and demonstrate Indian crafts. The rebuilt village is operated by the University of Memphis

1987 Indian Village Drive
T. O. Fuller State Park
Memphis, TN 38109  •  (901) 785-3160.
Beale Street Historic District
It was here in the early 1900s that W.C. Handy first popularized and published the blues, a unique African-American contribution to American music. Handy (1873-1958) was the son of an Alabama Methodist minister. He came here as a young man and played at Pee Wee’s Saloon, while another blues pioneer, Bessie Smith, was singing at area nightspots. In 1909, mayoral candidate E. H. Crump hired Handy and his band for his campaign.

Mr. Crump made him famous overnight when Crump won the election. Handy later turned the song into the Memphis Blues, the first blues ever published. It was followed by Beale St. Blues and St. Louis Blues. The site includes Handy’s home at 352 Beale Street, the Memphis Blues and Music Museum, the Palace and Daisy theaters, Hole-in-the-Wall Saloon, parks, shops, restaurants, and night clubs.