St. Patrick's Day - Memphis 2011

Wear green, dine on corned beef and cabbage -- Celebrate our city's Irish heritage.

Early Memphis was built close to the River, and Irish settlers played an important role in the life of the city. One of their contributions was to help pave the Memphis Landing with cobblestones.

Eugene Magevney who settled here in 1833 was instrumental in establishing Memphis’s first public schools and St. Peter's, the first Catholic Church in Memphis. Later immigrants, fleeing the Irish Potato Famine (1845 - 1850), settled, worked, and opened businesses in downtown's Pinch area. Named for the "pinchgut" look of the malnourished immigrants, the Pinch neighborhood encompassed all of Memphis north of Adams Street, from the River east to Third Street.

Today the Pinch Area still retains some of its early buildings and homes. With St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Pyramid, and Bridges in the neighborhood, and with the harbor nearby, the area is redeveloping as Uptown Memphis.
The Magevney House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Operated as a museum by the City of Memphis Division of Park Services and Memphis Museums, it is preserved but closed to the public due to budget constraints.