Beulah Baptist Church on the corner of Douglass Avenue and Grand Street, is one of the oldest congregations in Orange Mound. While the present building went up in 1927, Beulah was established in 1904 and is considered a community church because of its role hosting meetings, often led by longtime congregant Fred Davis, during the Civil Rights movement.
Orange Mound, one of Memphis' most historic neighborhoods, has the unique distinction of bearing six churches that are over 100 years old.
Homecoming week at Melrose School transcends an annual football game. The week of events brings together generations of folks proud to be from Orange Mound.
Doors of churches, businesses and homes are opened to people who want to have a good time while watching the one mile-long stretch of their neighborhood pulse with energy for about three hours the second Saturday of September. The faces and moments along the route help inform a portrait of a community.
The Emmanuel Center has stood in the middle of its South Memphis neighborhood since 1989. That includes during 2010, when hundreds of residents were relocated during the Hope VI renovation of public housing complex Cleaborn Homes. Demolition took place around the church. That challenge resurfaces as Foote Homes, located across the street, prepares for its transition to mixed-income housing.
Mid-June means community on Tate Street. For the past 20 years, South Memphis resident Betty Isom has hosted a Stop the Violence Block Party, which is meant to inspire pride in the community and decry violence.
“They introduced us to the real world because the world that we live in is jacked up. It’s not easy for African-Americans," said a recent graduate of the historic African-American high school.
Miss Shirley's Soul Food restaurant, which has been open barely a year at the corner of Mississippi Boulevard and Georgia Avenue, welcomed families for its first Mother's Day lunch.
Energy was high in the auditorium at Humes Preparatory Academy Middle School on Friday afternoon. Students at the school, located along Manassas Street on Smokey City’s western edge, spent their February taking their lessons from Black History Month and turning it into a three-act performance.
Churches, barbershops and other community centers are focal points in Klondike Smokey City.
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