Orpheum Theatre (The Malco)

The story

The 'palatial majesty' theater that survived a 1923 fire and near-demolition hosts a resident ghost named Mary who died in a 1921 accident.

Everything that was here

• 1928–present · still open

  Orpheum Theatre (The Malco)Theater

  The 'palatial majesty' theater that survived a 1923 fire and near-demolition hosts a resident ghost named Mary who died in a 1921 accident.

  See the map in 1929 →
• 1928–present · still open

  Orpheum TheatreTheater

  The grand Italian Renaissance palace where Elvis Presley watched movies as a teenager and which nearly met the wrecking ball before citizens saved it.

  See the map in 1929 →
• 1919–present · still open

  The Arcade RestaurantRestaurant

  Memphis's oldest restaurant still serves Elvis's favorite fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches at his secret back booth where he hid from fans.

  See the map in 1920 →
• 1914–2019

  Memphis Central StationTrain Station

  Once one of the worst Amtrak stations in America, this 1914 train station is now a luxury hotel with a painstakingly restored arrival/departure board.

  See the map in 1915 →
• 1870–1993

  Goldsmith's Department Store (Downtown)Department Store

  This department store's Christmas parade predated Macy's famous procession by at least a decade and stayed open during deadly yellow fever epidemics.

  See the map in 1871 →
• 1870–1993

  Goldsmith's Department StoreDepartment Store

  The South's first 'department store' started Memphis's Christmas parade tradition a decade before Macy's famous parade in New York.

  See the map in 1871 →
• 1913–1970

  Hotel ChiscaHotel

  The hotel where Elvis Presley's first record debuted on radio in 1954 inspired the Tony Award-winning musical 'Memphis.'

  See the map in 1914 →
• 1869–1923

  The Original Peabody HotelHotel

  Presidents, Confederate generals, and Jefferson Davis called this luxury hotel home before it was demolished for a department store.

  See the map in 1870 →
• 1843–1899

  Gayoso Hotel (Original)Hotel

  Memphis's first luxury hotel had its own gasworks, silver faucets, and flush toilets—then burned down on its 57th birthday.

  See the map in 1844 →

Nearby history