Status: Preserved

Location: North B.B. King Boulevard (Third Street) to the west, Winchester and Alabama Avenues to the north, Exchange Avenue to the south, and Danny Thomas Boulevard and Alabama Avenue to the east, in Memphis

Built: 1936

Architectural Style: Colonial Revival

Original Function/Purpose: Residential

The Lauderdale Courts Public Housing Project was placed on the National Register on July 25, 1996.

History: In 1935, Memphis became the second city in the nation to establish a Federal Housing Authority. After his first venture in the design of affordable housing, the Lauderdale Courts Public Housing Project, J. Frazer Smith rose to prominence as a residential architect for the development of housing for the low and middle-income families of Memphis. Originally built for white residents, the project’s most famous resident was the Presley family, who lived in Apartment 328 from 1949 to 1953. The housing project closed in 2000 but the complex has since been restored, with special attention accorded to the Presley unit to make it look like the family might still live there. In 2018 the City of Memphis designated this overall property as a site on the Memphis Heritage Trail.

Maps:

Outline of present-day Uptown Square community, formerly occupied by Lauderdale Courts Public Housing Project.

 

Map of the property used in its National Register nomination.

 

City Council District: 7

Super District: 8

County Commission District: 8