FROM

February, 2006

ALLEY PLATS:

Tales of the Alleys of Downtown Memphis.

Downtown Memphis are paved with blocks of history and lore.

Park Alley

> Perceptions of alleys are rarely good. They are the places where businesses leave their garbage. You see them on cop shows, where police chase down the bad guys or where they find a body. They can be home to some unsavory, scary elements. Basically, they are perceived as dark, dangerous places.

But I walked into some alleys Downtown and no, I didn't come out on a stretcher. They are home to some neglected, out-of-the-way spots and nuggets of forgotten history. As pavement peels away, bricks and cobblestones from the horse and buggy days appear.

And alleys are ever-changing. It was big news when Main Street was blocked off for mall construction in 1975, but who notices when alleys are barricaded? Or closed permanently? Bohlen Alley was eliminated in 1984 and 1985 during construction of the Morgan Keegan building. General Washburn's Escape Alley, which stretches from Front Street to Autozone Park, has been blocked off so many times only Superman could make that escape today.

A city plan released in 1964 suggested making Downtown alleys destinations rather than dumping grounds. A concrete planter remains at Madison and Maggie H. Isabel Alley, and an ornate, iron sign still arches across KLYX Stereo Alley at Second and Court Ave., but the 1964 plan was forgotten for the most part. So while a storefront on Main is fixed up to its splendor of 50 years ago, the alley behind it remains, showing five decades of aging.

> Joe Lowery, current project manager for First Response Inc., a provider of environmental remediation, industrial and transportation services, and emergency response, began studying Memphis streets and alleys around 1974 when he was working in the alarm division for the Memphis Fire Department. Because there was no computer dispatch, dispatchers had to know their geography. That's how Lowery became interested in street history. After 31 years of research, he finished "Memory Lanes," a report he sent to the county archives.

"Alleys have a life of their own," he says. "Names change, alleys close, and sometimes they disappear. When I first started researching, I got very frustrated."

Take Turner Alley, for example. Four prison escapees from San Quentin had been carrying on with a week of robbery and theft throughout the South. They made the mistake of honking their horn in front of Hotel Claridge-now The Claridge condominiums-Jan. 6, 1944, causing two walking patrolmen to take notice. Three were caught on the spot at Front and Adams, and another ran down Turner Alley where two Marines caught him. Turner Alley was closed in 1963 and is now Memphis City Hall.

And then there's General Washburn's Escape Alley, which Lowery says was actually located only at the current site of AutoZone Park. But the street signs were moved incorrectly during construction of the stadium, and the alley now stretches as far as Marshall Avenue,
northeast of Union, all the way to Front Street. It has been called Bedford, Short Union, Old Union, Pig Alley, Denie Alley, and Floyd Alley-a headache to someone researching old addresses.

But here are a few of the alleys that remain ...

Barboro Alley
Barboro Alley
This alley, running east from Wagner St. with Union to the north and Gayoso to the south, is perhaps the most picturesque. From Front Street down to Wagner, it is a straight shot to the Mississippi River with buildings bordering the thin path of cobblestones, resembling a
street from ancient Rome. The alley, named for the owner of a wholesale and retail fruit and produce company that was located at 345 S. Main in 1877, had a less formal name, according to Lowery. It was called Dead Man's Alley up until the 1880s because two undertakers, J. Hinton and Sons and T.J. Collins, operated on opposite ends of the alley.

Floyd Alley Before the name was changed to Floyd, this one block-long alley flanked by Madison and Monroe, was named California Court, and early directories show residences on the alley. But the alley's claim to fame came during the shooting of the 1993 hit movie, "The Firm". Mitch McDeere (played by Tom Cruise) had dirt on his law firm's dealings with the Mafia that the FBI needed. Up in his office on Front Street, company security had to take him out before he brought them down. McDeere jumped out the window and onto a conveniently placed truck filled with cotton, parked in Floyd Alley.

November 6th Street
Traveling north/south from Monroe to South Court between Main and Second, this alley name commemorates November 6, 1936, when voters elected for Memphis to build or buy an electrical distribution system that would use cheaper electricity from TVA. That same month, Maiden Lane was > changed to November 6th Street in observance of the event.

This is where I came across Dan-no last name; he says he's just Dan-and his antique shop, Nice as New, in the alley where it has been since 1981. Listening to him talk to a customer gives an insight into what his store offers. "What is this?" a woman who appears to be a regular asks. "It does nothing," Dan replies with a laugh.

Dan's spot was originally home to Blues Alley, a blues joint that burned four days after Elvis's death in 1977 and later relocated to Front Street. Dan shows the burnt timbers that are still visible in the rafters 28 years later.

He remembers back in 1983 when he met mayoral candidate Dick Hackett. Hackett asked what he could do to win votes. "Mr. Hackett," Dan said, "I think right here you can get lots of votes if you clean the alleys." Two days after Hackett was elected, Dan said a
whole fleet of people in trucks came to clean the alleys.

Larry Taylor, a native Memphian who now lives in Lakeland, remembers this alley from his youth. Around 1964 or 1965, he and his friends would go to the old Rendezvous, whose address was then on November 6th, and have a beer. "It was more of a night spot than a barbecue restaurant," he remembers. "We were all like 22 years old and rowdy. We went running out of the Rendezvous at full speed, dashed up the stairs, jumped in our Volkswagens, and went racing side by side down the alley. There wasn't but about this much between us." He holds his hands about six inches apart. "We raced about one block to get to the Press Club at 100 N. Main. I'd say we were doing about 30 or 40 miles per hour!"

Center Lane Alley
Between Front and Main starting at Court, Center Lane Alley is almost a straight shot all the way to Union. Heading south on Center towards 81 Monroe, an ornate building is one of many examples of the remodeling of the last 20 to 25 years that has been part of the center city's renaissance. Fire escapes are a distinguishing feature of Downtown alleys, and one in this alley was the scene of tragedy Nov. 23, 1929, when Captain Oscar Stell of the Memphis Fire Department fell from the sixth floor to his death when he missed the fire escape.

Exiting the alley at Union, a painting of bluesman Albert King adorns the wall near Sleep Out Louie's. The modest artist did not sign or date his painting.

Maggie H. Isabel Alley

This is probably the most used of the alleyways Downtown, due mainly to it being the home of The Rendezvous and its famous pork ribs. And, not including the detours made for construction, it's the longest of the Downtown alleys. Lyceum Lane became Maggie H. Isabel in 1999 when the longtime Madison Avenue seamstress and community volunteer was honored posthumously with her own street.

Park Alley
At Park Alley and Second-just east of Court Square-an ornate metal arch reads "KLYX Stereo Alley." Back in the previously mentioned plan from 1964, this stretch of alley had speakers on either side playing live broadcasts from radio station KLYX. The speakers have long gone-along with most of the ambitions of the 1964 alley beautification plan-but the curious sign still invites visitors to that stretch of Park Alley.

Farther west on the alley between the Porter Building on North Main and the post office on Front was Whiskey Chute Alley. The city changed the name to a less colorful but more professional name "Park" in 1942, but with a name like Whiskey Chute, it had its stories.

During its heyday, the alley was home to saloons, oyster bars, and poker games-and the occasional violence those venues can bring. One story recounts the tale of a lady who entered one of the saloons in 1866 brandishing a revolver. She then began smashing every bottle in sight-apparently in opposition to drinking.

And in 1891, two Memphis attorneys were in a bitter legal battle. As one exited a restaurant at Whiskey Chute and Main, the other shot him point blank in front of dozens of people in the lunchtime crowds.

Another prominent Memphian, Jasper Smith, disappeared there in 1899. He was never found, and > his statue stands over his empty grave at Elmwood On a more positive note, Wimmer Brothers Printing Company also had an office in the alley. They became a historical footnote during the 1968 garbage strike when they printed signs that read, "I Am a Man" during the black garbage workers strike.

> Right were Park Lane meets Center behind the Falls Building, Natilee Haynes has cut hair since July, 1994. One chair and one hair stylist is all she needs. "I can't believe how successful the location has been," she says. "I've really been surprised." One memory sticks
in her mind. She never knew the man, but a few years ago a trumpeter would come to the alley and practice, serenading those who ventured off the street.

General Washburn's Escape Alley The Confederate States of America had pretty much passed its high water mark on Aug. 21, 1864, when something happened to put smiles on the faces of local secessionists. A raid by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest into occupied Memphis surprised one General Washburn, sleeping about where AutoZone Park is currently located. As the Rebs rode their horses into town, General Washburn ran out, clad only in a night shirt. Today, the alley still bears the name of that hasty predawn
retreat.

Too bad the alley is blocked due to the SunTrust building and AutoZone Park. Imagine every August 21 runners taking off from AutoZone Park clad only in long T-shirts that read "The General Washburn 5K."

When one thinks of alleys today, perhaps images of old urban neighborhoods come to mind, as well. They seem to have fallen out of planning fashion around World War I. But they are coming back. Look at Harbor Town and South Bluffs, built from scratch in the early
> 1990s in the New Urbanism style of architecture and city planning. In a time when many new homes look like garages with living space attached, alleys here keep the garbage and garages less obvious. Some architects are beginning to think that those early city planners were right all along.

> Sources:
> Architecture & Memphis: Report from March, 1964 for
> the Downtown Association
>
> Plat maps from City of Memphis
>
> The Commercial Appeal
>
> Memory Lanes by Joe Lowery
>
> Memphis Press-Scimitar
>
> www.firemuseum.org
>
> www.newurbanism.com