On This Date, Something Happened: Marcus Winchester
On This Date, Something Happened: Marcus Winchester
(Editor’s note: I’m on a quest to catalog all of the places in the Memphis area with historical markers in a weekly feature called “On This Date, Something Happened.)
This week's historical marker honors one of Memphis' first overacheivers, Marcus Winchester.
He opened the city's first store, was a real estate agent, city developer and Memphis' very first mayor. And if that wasn't enough, he talked Davy Crockett (king of the wild frontier) into politics.
"On this corner, Marcus B. Winchester in 1819 set up the first store in Memphis, and in 1821 the first post office. Son of General James Winchester, he was agent for the original proprietors of the Rice Tract and was largely responsible for the early growth of the town. He was first mayor, 1827 - 1829, and first postmaster, 1821-49. He persuaded Davy Crockett to enter national politics."
Marcus Winchester's marker sits at the site of his store, at the corner of Front and Jackson downtown. If you're looking for it, it's on the lawn of the MLGW substation.
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