Uptown history

The Greenlaw-Manassas neighborhood was founded in the 1800s and was once an area of growth and prosperity as the first subdivision outside the original city limits. After decades of neglect, the area is once again making Memphis history.

Pinch District
Settled by Irish immigrants in the mid-1800s. Mr. Craven Peyton dubbed the area “Pinchgut” due to the residents’ gaunt appearance after fleeing the great potato famine in Ireland. The area was known for very humble housing. After the Civil War, the Pinch district was occupied mostly by poor African-Americans.

1840s
Established by the Greenlaw Brothers, and partners Robert Looney, John and Isaac Saffarans and E.T. Keel. Streets were paved with cobblestone, had granite curbs, and were lined with sycamore trees. Prominent Memphis families built large stately homes in the area. The neighborhood was an area of growth and prosperity as the first subdivision outside the original city limits.

1860s
Blue collar workers began to build smaller homes alongside existing homes, creating an economically diverse community. Ethnic diversity was the norm. Immigrants from Germany and Ireland moved into the area, as did Jewish immigrants from Europe. Because of this, the area now-known as Greenlaw attracted mostly Northeastern and Mid-Western families, giving the area its own distinctive culture.

1870
Greenlaw and Chelsea annexed into Memphis.

1880s
Prominent Memphis politicians and businessmen called the area home. George C. Love lived in the neighborhood and served as mayor during a period when E.H. Crump was having legal difficulties. Love’s house still stands, and is now a neighborhood center owned by the city.

April 1912
A major Mississippi River flood brought high water to downtown Memphis. The lights of Memphis were put out by the flood after the Mississippi River submerged the gas plant. The flood stopped construction of big homes for the affluent in the neighborhood.

1920s
Political power players began to move out. Greenlaw began to lose political muscle. Older mansions were bulldozed by the government and empty lots were left.

1940s
Philip Belz began industrial development in North Memphis. The neighborhood attracted more blue collar workers and African Americans. Bars, liquor stores and juke joints tarnished the family friendly atmosphere.

1950s
During this period, Memphis was named the country’s quietest, cleanest and safest city on several occasions. In an effort to attract more white residents to Greenlaw, MHA built an all white housing development called Hurt Village.

Elvis in Uptown (1949 to 1953)
Elvis Presley’s family moved from Tupelo, Mississippi to Lauderdale Courts public housing development. Elvis took up the guitar at 11 and practiced in the basement laundry room at Lauderdale Courts. He played gigs in the malls and courtyards of the Courts with other musicians who lived there. Elvis attended Humes High School, which is now Humes Middle School. Lauderdale Courts has been restored and is now Uptown Square The Presleys’ apartment is open to tourists.

April 14, 1968
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel while in Memphis to support the Sanitation Workers’ strike. In a speech given days before, known widely as the "Mountain Top Speech", Dr. King foretold of his own death. King let it be known that he was not going out of life backwards and that he was grateful to God for allowing him a vision of the future of his people. An enormous outpouring of grief spread across the country, as well as violent outrage in cities including Memphis, Detroit and Chicago.

1960s
Federal court decisions ended segregation in the city’s public libraries, schools, parks and recreation facilities. Racial tensions were at a high due to the sanitation strike and assassination of MLK. Most whites who lived in Hurt Village left the area. Most businesses closed as well as industries. Poverty, crime and lack of development sent the area into a downward spiral of decay.

2000
Greenlaw was a blighted area just north of downtown. Five decades of neglect, crime and poverty had taken a toll on the area, sending it into a depression. The neighborhood was plagued with poverty, dilapidated housing, crime and homelessness.

2002
Developers Jack Belz and Henry Turley teamed up with the city of Memphis. Hope VI (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) was to replace the deteriorated Hurt Village housing projects in the Greenlaw-Manassas neighborhood with mixed income housing. The developers chose not to tear everything down and start from scratch. Choosing instead to infill vacant lots while leaving habitable homes and apartments in place and bettering them.

2008
After more than $35 million in federal funds, a public/private partnership, and 5,000 new residents, Uptown is a national model for urban revitalization as well as eco-friendly and mixed-income communities. Just five years after the redevelopment project began, property values in Uptown are the fastest-growing in Memphis.