Memphis, Mississippi River

The first thing that comes to mind as I roll into Memphis is the powerhouse of musical talent that sprang from this southern city, from soul and blues to rock ’n’ roll and hip hop. Legendary studios like Stax Records and Sun Studio, and the famed Beale Street with its bars and jazz clubs, still hum with music spilling through the windows. This is where Elvis Presley grew up, cut his first tracks, and rose to become the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. B.B. King strummed his guitar; Ben E. King laid the foundations of the blues and is lovingly remembered as the father of the genre; and the powerful voice of Aretha Franklin still echoes in memory, belting out the lyrics to "Respect"-"R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me". Even today, Memphis continues to churn out talent, from native sons like Justin Timberlake to a new generation carrying the city’s musical legacy forward.

As I wander past the neon glow of Beale Street, I can feel the heartbeat of Memphis pulsing through its music and history. Just a short walk away, the Lorraine Motel stands quietly, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum, a reminder of the city’s role in shaping change. It was here that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his powerful “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, urging communities to keep moving forward, saying, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope… the stars are always visible to those who keep looking”. These lyrical words still ring true today, offering messages of hope and resilience that resonate in everything we do.

Wanting to see how the river shaped Memphis, I wandered over to the James Lee House. This opulent three-storey mansion almost slipped into history. After being abandoned in the late 1950s, it sat empty for half a century until two couples, dreaming of running a B&B together, brought it back to life, turning it into a boutique luxury hotel. The house was once home to the family behind the Lee Line Steamers. This locally based company sent dozens of boats up and down the Mississippi. Several of their steamboats were named after family members—Rowena Lee for James Lee Jr.’s wife, Stacker Lee after both his brother and his son, and the James Lee, a nod to his father, the founder, and himself, the key figure during the company’s 46-year run. They operated about 21 boats out of Memphis, though no one knows the exact number. Steamboats had notoriously short lifespans, often ending in accidents, snags, or boiler explosions. The James Lee itself met its end when ice crushed its hull. As one company official once said, “They had more boats under the river than on the river”. Such was the life of steamboats. 

A more famous visitor to the Chickasaw Bluffs—where present-day Memphis now stands—was the New Orleans, the very first steamboat to descend the Mississippi. Freshly completed in 1811, she travelled from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River and into the Mississippi, proving once and for all that steamboat travel on the western rivers was possible. Her stop near the Bluffs was brief; Captain Nicholas Roosevelt—great-grand uncle of Theodore Roosevelt and distant cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt—was eager to get his vessel safely downstream to Natchez. And who could blame him? The region was gripped by the Great New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811–1812, shocks so powerful they altered the course of the Mississippi. In some places, uplift along a fault created temporary waterfalls and made the river appear to flow backwards. The tremors travelled astonishing distances, felt as far away as Boston to the northeast. Even now, the area remains active, though the hundreds of yearly quakes are mostly too small to feel.

These days, the river feels far more welcoming. Leisure steamboats like the American Queen, once headquartered in Memphis, regularly dock here as part of their itineraries. Though a modern recreation, she’s the largest steamboat ever built, still carrying the charm of the 19th century with her Victorian décor, grand saloon, and fully functioning steam engine. On her maiden voyage in 2012, she even retraced the original route of the New Orleans. Another enduring favourite is the Delta Queen, considered a national treasure and one of the last authentic historic steamboats still afloat.