Orange Mound was the first planned community built for and by African-Americans in the south. Middle-class black Memphians purchased inexpensive plots of land. Black-owned businesses flourished until the 1980s chronic disinvestment brought widespread crime and poverty. Today there is a strong, resident-led network of community and faith organizations and a stronger sense of history and neighborhood pride. The heart of Orange Mound is Melrose High School and its award-winning football team.
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.
Though they all have their different methods, organizations like the Orange Mound CDC, JUICE, Explore Bike Share, ArtUp and more all have the common goal of investing in the community from within as much as possible by equipping residents with the tools they need for self-revitalization.
Orange Mound residents are gearing up for the holidays by organizing community dinners to feed the needy and collect toys for Christmas. Here are ways you can join their efforts this holiday season or year round.
"The Orange Mound community is like a family, a close-knit family, handed down from one generation to the other." The Orange Mound Community Service Center is a homebase for many of Orange Mound's seniors. You are guaranteed to find some wonderful characters who believe in their history, the community and the future.
Orange Mound was once a community of walkable amenities with sundry stores, movie theatres, and more sit-down restaurants. Over the past few decades, things have changed. And in recent years, bus service has become more infrequent.
From tiny football players and neighborhood candy ladies to ballerinas and local businesses, The Age of Osage is a photography show that illustrates the spirit of the Orange Mound community as captured by High Ground News photographers from August through November.
Discussions spread to the types of housing available in the community with some saying that the housing type isn’t the primary problem, but people not being able to afford to become homeowners is a problem.
“We carry old school or the clothes that people wore back in previous years that people today who are 60 to 70 years old wore when they were 30 or 40 years old,” said owner Maury Evensky. “It’s a lot of things they can’t find anywhere else.”
The population in Orange Mound is decreasing and as the community ages, homes are left abandoned or in dire need of repair.
Our Partners
