Status: Preserved
Location: Roughly bounded by Interstate 40 and North Watkins Street, and Snowden and Forrest Avenues, Memphis
Built: 1890-1945
Architectural Style: Various: Minimal Traditional, Colonial Revival
Original Function/Purpose: Residential
History: The district takes its name from Robert Brinkley Snowden’s Speedway Land Company; Speedway Terrace emerged as a development aimed largely at the middle-income families of Memphis. The majority of homes were built after 1912. One example of the subdivisions now making up the district is the Prescott Circle Subdivision which was begun in 1941, although it was not entirely built out until after World War II. It was a product of developer William C. Chandler and architect J. Frazer Smith, who designed interesting variations on the Cape House form, detailed in a stripped down Colonial Revival form often referred to as Minimal Traditional, a style that was largely maintained in Prescott Circle after the war. Speedway Terrace Historic District is one of the National Register-listed districts recognized (and protected) by the City of Memphis as a local historic district or Historic Overlay District.
Maps:
City Council District: 7
Super District: 8
County Commission Districts: 7 and 8 (Divided about equally between districts.)