Memphis Then & Now (Then & Now (Thunder Bay Press)) - Hardcover

Memphis -- the birthplace of the Blues and world-famous barbeque -- has a soul like no other city in America's Mid-South. It's home to FedEx, the first Holiday Inn, and Graceland. Experience it all for yourself in the new title from the best-selling "Then and Now" series: "Memphis Then and Now." - Amazing then-and-now photographs of Memphis' most popular sites take readers on an intimate tour of the city, from the mighty Mississippi River to Beale Street and beyond.- Make a pilgrimage to Memphis' most famous residence -- Elvis Presley's Graceland -- and see what it was like before it became the palatial home of America's "King."- While many of Memphis' old buildings were lost to bulldozers during the Depression, many were saved by the National Register of Historic Places.- Three blocks of Beale Street have been designated as historic landmarks. Fascinating photographs capture monuments like the First Baptist Beale Street Church, Greener's Dept. Store, and the Palace and New Daisy Theater.- Pay homage to the birthplace of the blues, soul and rock and roll at legendary locales like Stax Records and the Sun Record Company where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis launched their careers.

Russell Johnson is a lifelong resident of the River City. He is the son of sharecroppers and the grandson of a Memphis streetcar conductor. He has written many articles on local history and runs the website MemphisHistory.com, a resource aimed at promoting regional and cultural pride. A sustaining member of the West Tennessee Historical Society, he is especially well-versed in the area of Memphis history from the end of the Civil War through the harshest period of Yellow Fever outbreaks in 1880.