Constructed in 1958 at 181 W. Brooks Road, Presley Gulf Station appeared in the 1963 and 1966 Green Book.
Once Listed in the Green Book, Memphis’s Presley Gulf Station Still Stands Today
Tag Archives: Tennessee
Mason Temple, The C. O. G. I. C. National Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee
The Church of God in Christ (C. O. G. I. C.) was founded in 1897 by removed Baptists Charles Price Jones (1864-1949) and Charles Harrison Mason (1864-1961). The temple is named after Charles Mason, who is interred inside the building. C. O. G. I. C. is the nation’s most prominent Black Pentecostal church.
The Temple began construction in 1940. Henry Taylor was the architect, and Ullyses Ellis was the head of construction. According to the Tennessee Encyclopedia, “The three-story building was constructed of brick, stone, reinforced concrete, and steel. The main auditorium’s seating capacity was five thousand. The balcony seated two thousand, and the assembly room under the balcony also had the capacity to seat two thousand. The temple had a baggage-check registration room, post office, barber shop, beauty salon, first aid and emergency ward, nursery, male and female rest rooms and shower baths, shoe shine parlor, thirty-six administrative offices, two industrial kitchens, two cafeterias, concession area, photographic booth, an elaborate indoor and outdoor sound system, and a modern heating and cooling system. The cost of building Mason Temple was almost a quarter of a million dollars.”
The church was very active during the Civil Rights Movement. It was the last place Martin Luther King Jr. spoke before being assassinated. He delivered his “Mountaintop” speech.
The Art Moderne building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Anderson-Austin-Moss House of Brownsville, Tennessee
The Anderson-Austin-Moss House was built in 1867. The Gothic Revival house with gingerbread detail is a contributing property to the College Hill Historic District in Brownsville, Tennessee.
Fairview Junior High School-Memphis, Tennessee
I love Art Deco, so during my recent trip to Memphis, I knew I would need to visit this school. Memphis architect Noland Van Powell designed the Fairview Junior High School for the Edward Lee Harrison architectural firm. Opening in the fall of 1930, it was built at the cost of $335,000. The Art Deco style was unusual for Memphis. The building stood out with the buff-colored bricks since most schools in town were built with red bricks. It got its name because it was next to the fairgrounds.
During the 1937 Mississippi River flood, the school served as a hospital. In 2012, it went through an $8 million renovation. Luckily, most of the Art Deco details were intact and kept during the renovation. It is now known as the Middle College High School.
It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
St. Paul Baptist Church-Memphis, Tennessee
The congregation of St. Paul Baptist Church was founded in a house in 1879 on the corner of Jackson and Concord. In 1960, the congregation moved to this location on McElmore Avenue. The church outgrew this facility and moved to a new location on East Holmes Road in 2007.
Billy Tripp’s Mindfield-Brownsville, Tennessee
At first glance, this multi-story art installation looks like an electrical substation, but it’s the creation of Billy Tripp. The work began in 1989 after a local auto parts store burned down, and he had an idea on how to use the leftover beams.
In an article on the Haywood County Tennessee website, Tripp shares, ‘As I got started, I developed different themes; firstly, an outdoor church, I’m not religious, but I like things that are holy or special. And I’m going to be buried there, so [the Mindfield] is like my grave marker.’ He states it also about grief. He lost both of his parents, and there are memorials to them embedded in the structure. Ultimately, the installation, considered the largest piece of artwork in the state of Tennessee, is a conversation with Tripp himself.
Tripp plans to add to the Mindfield until he passes away. He has gotten permission from the city of Brownsville to be buried here. The Kohler Foundation will be taking care of the structure after his death.
If you visit, you can only see the structure from the parking lot.
