By all accounts, Bob Berryman was a shady character. A rather notorious gambler and bootlegger, he served eight years in prison for murdering a bouncer at a downtown nightclub. Even so, his name brings back fond memories with many Memphians, for he was the owner and operator of the Silver Slipper, one of our city’s most popular nightspots before it burned in 1958.
In 1937, Berryman embarked on another venture, a motel complex on Highway 61 South he called Berryman’s Tourist Court. When it first opened (above), the Memphis Press-Scimitar commented on the 22 “Oriental stucco” buildings (actually more like Spanish Revival), arranged in a horseshoe, with the manager’s office and residence in a two-story structure by the entrance.
