Midtown Memphis' Little Saigon and Historic Dists.

[sleepy]

These are some pics of some of Midtown Memphis' historic districts and its little Vietnamese area, posted awhile back on SSP. I'd previously posted a photo thread with Midtown's old apartments.

Midtown Memphis extends east from downtown Memphis for about 4 miles and a guestimate would make it about 16 sq. miles or so. Outside of downtown, it's the oldest part of the city and contains a lot of its late 19th/early 20th century urban fabric.

Anyway:

First, we should pay our humble respects at the site of this desecrated Elvis shrine I stumbled across:

Little Saigon--a 3 or 4 block area of shops, restaurants, and so on that's really a relic from the 70's. Most Vietnamese have moved on to the suburbs. The area's dangerous at night, referred to by locals as Jefferson Bottoms.

Little Saigon temple:

Little Saigon streetcar stop with temple theme:

Little Saigon residences:

Little Saigon storefronts:

What the heck, I'll throw in some Midtown highrises:

Old Sears Tower:

Central Gardens Historic District--a few blocks south down Cleveland Avenue from the dangers of Little Saigon, you have Central Gardens, the home of the old Memphis aristocracy--the old money, drunken cotton gentry:

Evergreen Historic District--to the east of Little Saigon, the area around Overton Park which would have been obliterated had not a citizens' group stopped the construction of Interstate 40 in 1974:

Restaurant (old Masonic Lodge):

Late 19th century mansion:

Idlewild Historic District--a little bit of New Orleans:

Annesdale Historic District:

What's interesting about this house?

I'd say the owls on the roof!

Last, Zinnie's, an old Madison Avenue barroom:

[mandrws1]

These pictures are great. I have some pictures of the skyline that I'm gonna post, but until then, I'll just keep enjoying your pictures. How did you ever spot the owls on the roof? I drive past that Madison Avenue trolley stop everyday and have never noticed the detail in it until now. Great shots!

[sleepy]

I didn't notice the owls on the roof until I got back to Minnesota and downloaded the pictures, which I'd taken in some gigantic size. If I'd noticed them when I took the picture, I would've zoomed in. As is, I had to crop the owls and sharpen it.

I've been at the trolley stop many times before, but never noticed the temple theme til I was taking the pic.