Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km). It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts frequently bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas.
Beale Street, showing King’s Palace Cafe, Beale St. Tap Room, and Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall.
Beale Street in 2014
Rex Billiard Hall for Colored, Beale Street, 1939. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott.
Beale Street in 1974
Downtown Memphis, Tennessee
Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis.
Downtown Memphis as seen from Poplar Avenue
The Memphis river landing (1906)
View west on Madison Avenue, ending with the Customs House (1906)
View from the Peabody Hotel, looking east over Autozone Park toward the Medical District.