President's Island
Encyclopedia
President's Island is a peninsula
on the Mississippi River
in southwest Memphis, Tennessee
. The city's major river port and an industrial park
are located there.
The Freedmen's Bureau established a camp on the island for freed slaves in 1865, and about 1,500 former slaves stayed there for a time. Some years later, Nathan Bedford Forrest
contracted with local officials to establish a penal farm
on the island to raise corn and the cotton. Forrest offered to pay Shelby County
10 cents a day for each worker. Forrest died in 1877, possibly of dysentery contracted by drinking impure island water. In the late 1870s the island served as a refuge for many people fleeing the yellow fever
epidemics that swept the city, killing thousands.
The development plan devised in the 1940s called for closing the Tennessee Chute that had separated the island from the eastern bank. This created a deep-water harbor (later named McKellar Lake) accessible from the Mississippi by the channel at the south end of the island. The Flood Control Act of 1946 allocated $17 million for the project, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1948.
The flood control and industrial development project in the late 1940s dammed the section of river between the island and the eastern bank and created a peninsula. Prior to that time, the island was surrounded by the river and subject to its power. Floods interfered with various attempts to raise crops and endangered the lives of those who had settled there. The island's relative isolation and untamed landscape made it a favored location for illicit activities, including gambling
, cockfight
s, and moonshine
ing.
Four Memphians were most responsible for transforming President's Island into an industrial center: businessman Frank C. Pidgeon, E.H. Crump, U.S. Senator Kenneth McKellar
, and Jack Carley, an editorial writer for the Commercial Appeal newspaper. McKellar was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which was instrumental in funding the project. Gen. M.C. Tyler, former president of the Mississippi River Commission, was also instrumental in plans for island development. The island was annexed by the city in 1947.
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in southwest Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. The city's major river port and an industrial park
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
are located there.
History
The name President or President's Island appeared as early as 1801 or 1802 in a river guide called Cramer's Navigator. The name referred to the island's size, then the largest on the Mississippi River. At that time President's Island was an actual island. Some old river maps identify the northern third of the present island as Vice President's Island.The Freedmen's Bureau established a camp on the island for freed slaves in 1865, and about 1,500 former slaves stayed there for a time. Some years later, Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years...
contracted with local officials to establish a penal farm
Prison farm
A prison farm is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are put to economical use in a 'farm' , usually for manual labour, largely in open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, etc...
on the island to raise corn and the cotton. Forrest offered to pay Shelby County
Shelby County
Shelby County is the name of nine counties in the United States of America, all named for Isaac Shelby of Kentucky. The Shelby County name gained fame in C.W. McCall's song "Classified"...
10 cents a day for each worker. Forrest died in 1877, possibly of dysentery contracted by drinking impure island water. In the late 1870s the island served as a refuge for many people fleeing the yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemics that swept the city, killing thousands.
The development plan devised in the 1940s called for closing the Tennessee Chute that had separated the island from the eastern bank. This created a deep-water harbor (later named McKellar Lake) accessible from the Mississippi by the channel at the south end of the island. The Flood Control Act of 1946 allocated $17 million for the project, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1948.
The flood control and industrial development project in the late 1940s dammed the section of river between the island and the eastern bank and created a peninsula. Prior to that time, the island was surrounded by the river and subject to its power. Floods interfered with various attempts to raise crops and endangered the lives of those who had settled there. The island's relative isolation and untamed landscape made it a favored location for illicit activities, including gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, cockfight
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters , held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout all states in the United States, Brazil, Australia and in most of Europe. It is still legal in several U.S. territories....
s, and moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
ing.
Four Memphians were most responsible for transforming President's Island into an industrial center: businessman Frank C. Pidgeon, E.H. Crump, U.S. Senator Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth Douglas McKellar was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953...
, and Jack Carley, an editorial writer for the Commercial Appeal newspaper. McKellar was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which was instrumental in funding the project. Gen. M.C. Tyler, former president of the Mississippi River Commission, was also instrumental in plans for island development. The island was annexed by the city in 1947.