Part 1
"The Beginnings"

The area that is now Memphis had a rich history, even prior to the beginning of the Civil War. Everything from pirates and earthquakes threatened the early settlers after the Native American populations were decimated. Following the official founding in 1819 the early city continued experiencing growing pains including a flatboat war, before the economy based on slaves, cotton, and railroad trade made Memphis one of the largest cities in the south by the mid-1850s.

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Part 2
"Civil War & Reconstruction"
For over 200 years Memphis has forged a history unlike any other. Memphis played an important role during the Civil War, though the only battle fought here was a short one. Hear stories featuring famous Generals and lawless soldiers. Learn about the Memphis Massacre that led to strict reconstruction laws in the south. The Yellow Fever epidemics of the 1870s inspired efforts to clean up the city, but the rise of criminal syndicates threatened to derail progress.

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Part 3
"Music & The Machine"
For over 200 years Memphis has forged a history unlike any other. We’ll continue our journey through the past to find out how Memphis became the city it is today. In the early 20th century, Memphis was dominated by one man: E.H. Crump. Learn about his rise to power, and how he was once mayor for a minute. Prohibition rocked the police department prior to the Depression, and World War Two helped the city attract new industries and create local heroes.

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Part 4
"Rise of the Bluff City"
For over 200 years Memphis has forged a history unlike any other. We’ll continue our journey through the past to find out how Memphis became the city it is today. After World War 2 Memphis was the second-largest city in the south-east. Hear stories of the struggles for civil rights, and the birth of rock and roll and soul music. Despite an economic downturn, the entrepreneurial spirit led to the founding of companies that today are known worldwide. In 1948 television came to Memphis, creating local pop-culture icons, and residents fought to save a treasured city park

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WKNO is currently in production on Memphis 200, a four-part series scheduled to air in May 2019. Join archivist and historian Wayne Dowdy as he travels through the past to find some of the unique people and places that helped to make Memphis the city it is today; beginning with the first meeting between Europeans and native peoples, through the turbulence of the 1960s.

Hear some fascinating unknown stories featuring pirates and flatboat wars, woven among the more well-known stories about E.H. Crump, the Civil Rights Movement, and Rock 'n Roll. See how areas of the city transformed from small trading posts populated by settlers, to the vibrant, busy metropolis that nearly a million Memphians know and love.

May 22, 1819 is the date historian James Roper sets as the founding of Memphis in his definitive 1969 book The Founding of Memphis.

The Memphis Bicentennial is sponsored by: