Boxtown, Memphis

Boxtown is one of the best-known neighborhoods in South Memphis. The neighborhood, which is near T.O. Fuller State Park, is also the oldest in South Memphis. Boxtown includes White's Chapel AME Church, which was built in 1890. Boxtown has numerous shotgun houses.

Boundaries

The main boundary of Boxtown is Sewanee Road, which is on the east.

History

Boxtown is so-named because the houses looked like boxcars, which were built from the trains. After the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, many former slaves settled in Boxtown. Many opened grocery stores. The most notable grocer in Boxtown was S.L. Jones (1914–1991), who opened a grocery store at the corner of Sewanee Road and Fields Road. He later opened Jones Big Star on McLemore Avenue. Boxtown, which was a part of Shelby County, was annexed into Memphis in 1968. Families like the Rogers family lived in the area for generations. So did families like the White Family who the White's Chapel Church was named after.

References

Meeks, Ann. Streetscapes, The Commercial Appeal 1988-2013.
Gibson, Stephanie. Beautifully Abandoned, Flickr 2011-2014.

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