Reasons to Love Memphis #34: Our Collected History

Reasons to Love Memphis #34: Our Collected History

Memphis is a city with a past - a big, messy, important, fascinating past. We've got a surplus of history here in the Bluff City, and for those wanting to know more, it can be a bit intimidating.

That's why I love the Memphis and Shelby County Room at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. It's a cozy (if a little chilly), quiet room on the 4th floor that houses documents, records, photos, recordings, and periodicals from Memphis' past.

Memphis and Shelby County Room, Main Library, Memphis, Tenn.

There are card catalogs stuffed with photos of Memphis that remind me of an analog Google Streetview. I tried to find a photo of my house, to no avail. If you find a photo that you like, you can make copies, scan it or take photos of it for publication. If you want to read the Commercial Appeal from the day Elvis died, you can. If you want to know who was born, married, or died in Memphis in 1865, you can find it.

Many of the items in the Memphis and Shelby County Room are part of the closed collection, meaning that you'll have to ask one of the insanely knowledgeable librarians for assistance.

The Memphis and Shelby County room is open during the main library's regular hours.

Go There:

Memphis and Shelby County Room

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library

3030 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38111

(901) 415-2700

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