Status: Destroyed by fire; delisted April 12, 2022. Address: 975 Peabody Avenue, Memphis Built: 1889-1890 Architectural Style: Queen Anne and Eastlake Original Function/Purpose: Residential   History: In 1890, cotton merchant Newton Copeland Richards moved into his stately new Queen Anne-style home with its rounded porch and circular balcony latticework; the architectContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 1020 Rayner Street, Memphis Built: 1856 Architectural Style: Greek Revival Original Function/Purpose: Residential History: In 1856, Eli Rayner, a scientific farmer, moved his family to a large plot of prime cotton land along the route of the yet-unfinished Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and built this house near whatContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 1034 Audubon Drive, Memphis Built: ca. 1954 Architectural Style: Ranch Original Function/Purpose: Residential History: The Elvis Presley House was still new when the entertainer purchased it for his family in 1956 only weeks after he had recorded “Heartbreak Hotel.” He was able to enjoy it for 13 monthsContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 10 North Main Street, Memphis Built: Completed in 1895 Architectural Style: Eclectic, with elements of both Northern Italian Renaissance and Richardsonian Romanesque Original Function/Purpose: Bank History: The ten-story Continental National Bank was the city’s first skyscraper and (at the time) the tallest building in the world to haveContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 850 North Manassas Street, Memphis Built: 1856-1927 Architectural Style: Italianate (Italian Villa) Original Function/Purpose: Orphanage History: This was Memphis’s first orphanage. The Protestant Widows’ and Orphans’ Asylum was chartered in 1850, and following donation of land by Sarah Leath, the first building of the home was completed inContinue Reading

Status: Endangered Location: Bounded by Commerce and Jackson Avenues on the south, Front Street on the west, North Second and Main Streets on the east, and A.W. Willis Avenue (formerly Auction Avenue) on the north, in Memphis Built: Late 1800s to early 1900s Architectural Style: Eclectic commercial Original Function/Purpose: CommercialContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Location: 157-205 South Fenwick Road and 160-201 Picardy Street (formerly Picardy Place), Memphis Built: 1939-53 Architectural Style: Minimal Traditional Original Function/Purpose: Residential History: The district is important to the architectural history of the city as an excellent example of post-World War II residential development. The houses are designedContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 149 Union Avenue, Memphis Built: 1925 Architectural Style: Italian Renaissance Revival Original Function/Purpose: Hotel History: After a 1923 fire at its original location at Main and Monroe, the Peabody Hotel moved to this site and into its new building in 1925. It was designed by the firm ofContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 2086 Young Avenue, Memphis Built: ca. 1910-1912 Architectural Style: Beaux Arts Original Function/Purpose: Education History: Peabody Elementary School was designed by the firm of Jones and Furbringer, one of eight public schools they were responsible for between 1902 and 1915. This one is said to have been builtContinue Reading

Status: Preserved Address: 1085 Poplar Avenue, Memphis Built: 1877 Architectural Style: Victorian Original Function/Purpose: Residential History: Oral history has it that the Patton-Bejach house was constructed in 1833, but some existing records indicate the building was built in 1877 and renovated in 1884 after a fire. The property was purchased inContinue Reading