Sun Studio

Memphis Tennessee

Parts of Memphis are preserved. When I said back on 58 Memphis Church that "so much of what I see around Memphis is in some state of falling apart," Sun Studio is one of the few things that are preserved in Memphis.

When I moved to Memphis back in 1992, I lived just eight feet away from Madison Avenue. I mean that my bedroom window was next to the sidewalk on Madison and the curb made the window seemingly next to the street. At three in the morning when the police or fire department would fly past with their sirens blasting, you knew it was a very urban setting.

I lived in the McAlpin until 1996, when I moved across the street and up to the top floor of the Gilmore. I had a studio apartment and I built a bunk bed over the heat exchange next to the window. It was a great little space. The Gilmore and McAlpin have both been renovated since then. I don't know how much, but the exterior of the McAlpin is much improved, repainted and has a nice new fence and landscaping. The Gilmore just looks less disheveled.

When I left Memphis in 2002 to begin my cross country bike trip, Gallery Place Mall downtown had just opened. South Main Street was being renovated, Union Station and the Pyramid were the north and south anchors of Main Street.

I have been back in Memphis nine years this month and Gallery Place Mall is a Service Master office, South Main is being renovated again, Union Station is an apartment and the Pyramid has become a Bass Pro shop.

Near Beal Street and Main in downtown Memphis

Photo by Tim Wheat.

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