Monday, June 15, 2009
Lost Memphis Elvis Presley's Mystery Train (Station)
Posted by Vance Lauderdale on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 1:54 PM
A reader from Lowell, Massachusetts, recently sent me a letter and wondered if I could solve a "mini-mystery" involving Elvis Presley. Here's a portion of his query:
"It is 1956 and Elvis travels to New York to tape The Steve Allen Show. His on-air performance includes 'Hound Dog.' The next day he takes the train from New York to Memphis.
"Somewhere in the area of White Station (on Poplar) the train stops and Elvis gets off alone so he can walk to the Presley family home on Audubon Drive. It is believed the train stopped somewhere between Mendenhall and Colonial Roads.
"This is a special moment in Elvis' life as he had not yet reached the level of fame that prevented him from walking home alone in Memphis. The scene is part of the DVD Elvis 56 and it shows Elvis waving to the train. Photographer Albert Wertheimer captured the moment from the train of Elvis walking on Poplar Avenue (above) in the direction of downtown (perhaps waiting for the train to pass so he could cross over the tracks?).
"In one of Wertheimer's photos, a Town and Country Barber Shop is visible in the background. Do you have any way of locating where the barber shop once stood? Does the building still stand?
"Thank you, Shane McDonough, Lowell, Massachusetts"
***
It turns out this is one mini-mystery that was fairly easily to solve. But first you have to understand that the area around Poplar and Mendenhall has changed considerably since 1956. Back then, Mendenhall was a two-lane road that stretched southward from Summer and dead-ended at Poplar. It didn't cross the railroad tracks, as it does today. About a block to the east, another two-lane road, called Mt. Moriah, ran southward from the railroad tracks along Southern all the way to Quince. The two roads did not line up, so drivers had to make a "jog" along Poplar if they wanted to drive from Summer to Quince.
Sometime in the 1960s, the city widened the roads and constructed that big curve that runs by the Half Shell, effectively linking Mendenhall to the north with Mt. Moriah to the south.
But here is where it really gets confusing. From the early 1900s to the late 1950s, there was a little train station at that intersection, on the south side of Poplar. The depot was called White's — later just White — Station. But it was located at Mendenhall/Mt. Moriah, not White Station. The road known as White Station was originally called the Bartlett Road, and stretched from Summer to Poplar. It didn't gain the name White Station Road until the late 1950s, when developers extended it south of Poplar to bring traffic to all the subdivisions they were building in that area.
And to answer your question — finally! The Town and County Barber Shop shown in the photo was part of a row of one-story brick buildings that stood at the northeast corner of Poplar and Mendenhall. Other businesses on that corner included Modern Shoe Rebuilders, Hamkirk's Drive-In Grocery, Hamilton's Variety Store, and Brouse Drugstore. They all came tumbling down when Mendenhall was widened. A parking lot for a bank and Houston's restaurant occupies the site today.
You know, that was a pretty long walk for Elvis, but back then, the little depot at Poplar and Mendenhall would have been the closest train station to his house on Audubon.
PHOTO BY ALBERT WERTHEIMER
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That really was a long walk--- probably two miles or so. However, in the Peter Guralnick biography, a witness describes seeing Elvis leave the train that day, walk off down Poplar, and "set out across a big field toward home," which I guess would have been the land where Audubon Park is now?
It's hard to say, exactly. Keep in mind that many of the subdivisions around Mendenhall and Mt. Moriah weren't developed until the mid- or late-1950s, so quite a bit of that entire area between Poplar and Park could be described as a "big field."
I always get Mendenhall and Mt. Moriah mixed up. Maybe this story will serve as a mnemonic device. Excellent work, Vance.
His traveling suitcase is the size of a laptop. Plus this will remind people there was a time you just walked where you wanted to go.
In similar vein i was amazed how far Faulkner walked to work in the post office.
Good job on Whatdya'Know, Vance! Mentioned everything but the mummy.
Vance, I heard part of your interview on Whad Ya Know Saturday the 20th. I am very interested in Memphis in the mid-1960's. Can you recommend reading or other reference resources? Lisbeth@epistat.com
Perhaps the "big field" was actually the golf course at the old Colonial Country Club where Target now stands? It would have been closer to the train station (and the departing train) than Audubon Park.
The 'big field' would not have been the CCC golf course for two reasons. First, that was private grounds I doubt that they'd let people just cut across. Second, at least the north edge of that property between Colonial and (old) Perkins was formed by a tall, thick, hedge.
He probably went west to Perkins and then cut across the northeast section of Audubon Park to Cherry between Southern and Park. Before Perkins Extended, the lake, the driving range, and Cancer Survivor's Park, that was literally a big field with some baseball fields scattered about.
I grew up in that area and thought I knew everything there was to know about that neighborhood. I'd love to see a photo of White Station, too!
As for the field: Audubon Park went up in the late '40s though the theater went up in the mid '70s and the Botanical Center opened in '64, so in 1956 it may have looked more like a field.
Now I just wonder why Mendenhall disappears and magically reappears by Halle Stadium.
I grew up in that area, too. I could have sworn that Houston's is the old Rexall drug store. It had (I think) that last operating soda fountain in the area. It was operating in the late 70's for sure. I remember looking out of the drug store and seeing the old Fred Montesi grocery east of there.
The drugstore was originally part of the row of buildings you see in the background of the Elvis photo. When Poplar was widened in the early 1960s, all those buildings were demolished, and a new drugstore — White Station Pharmacy #1 (a Rexall drugs franchise — was built farther back from the street. That building is today Houston's Restaurant.
I always thought White's Station was the Belmont Grill?
me again -- wow, just found out some cool info about the Belmont property here -- http://www.tellthetruthtravel.com/ThumbsUp…
check out this crazy photo of Poplar Pike, circa 1930!
http://www.tellthetruthtravel.com/images/M…
Great stuff, Andria! Many thanks. Old city directories indicate that a gas station used to stand on the corner, right next to what is now the Belmont Grill, before they widened Mendenhall, but I've never seen any photos of it. On one hand, I guess it would make sense to have a gas station next to a garage, but maybe they were confusing it WITH the old Bianchi garage.
That was probably a tape recorder or record player, he was carrying with him. There was a picture of him on a train, listening to a device.
That thing he was carrying, probably was a tape recorder or record player. I remember seeing a picture of Elvis, sitting on a train, listening to his songs that he had done, or something,like that.
I saw a TV program about Elvis hosted by The Band's Levon Helm that explained it was a copy of the new record he'd just cut ... he was anxious to get home and play it for his mama.
Hello Everybody!
Fascinating stuff. For the love of all that is holy — can anyone produce a picture of the train station itself? I have wondered for years what the old depot at White's Station looked like and where it stood exactly.
Might the history dept at the Central :ibrary have some pics?
Plus — does anyone know where Colonel Eppy White's plantation house stood in the White's Station area?
I would be very grateful...
— Christopher
There was no actual station, it was just a stop. Passengers could get off there but no one could get on. At least part of one of the structures in Al's photos are still there. We resolved this sometime ago and I went there in 2007 and took a few shots. see http://www.pbase.com/jroy/whitestation
Jim
scottymoore.net
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