Whitehaven, Memphis

Whitehaven, Memphis, Tennessee
Country State County	United States Tennessee Shelby
City	1950s
Government
• Mayor	W.W. Herenton
Area
• Total	47 km2 (18.0 sq mi)
Population  (2000)
• Total	50,000
• Density	331.2/km2 (857.9/sq mi)
	Aprox.
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Website	http://www.memphismemphis.com/whitehav.htm

Whitehaven is an African-American neighborhood on the southwest side of Memphis,Tennessee, first organized in the late 19th century. Its current population is about 50,000. Today's Zip Code is 38116, with a land area of about 18 square miles. It is sometimes called "Blackhaven" due to the now predominantly African-American population.

History

Originally a farm community, it was developed as a residential suburb of Memphis in the 1950s and 1960s. It is located in Shelby County and is roughly bounded by Brooks Road on the north and the Mississippi state line on the south, with Neely Road on the west and Airways Blvd. on the east.

The major traffic artery of the community is Highway 51, later known as Elvis Presley Boulevard. This roadway began as a toll "Plank Road" built between Memphis and Hernando, Mississippi, in 1852.

Three high schools are in the area: Whitehaven High School, Hillcrest High School and Bishop Byrne Catholic high. Whitehaven High School was opened by 1911 and was the only high school in the community until Hillcrest opened in 1962. Bishop Byrne, a private co-educational Catholic high school adjacent to St. Paul Church on Shelby Dr., opened in 1966. Fairley High School, Westwood High School, and Mitchell High School lie in the area just west of the Neely Road boundary.

Much of the later residential and commercial development was done by Carrington Jones and Lacy Mosby in the mid 20th century to provide housing for "baby boom" families who moved from Memphis to a pleasant environment in the old community. This gradually transformed plantation tracts to neighborhoods in the late 40s and 50s.

Elvis Presley bought his famous home, Graceland, in 1957; very soon afterward the farmland surrounding the estate was subdivided into homesites. For the next decade there was rapid development, with Whitehaven Plaza shopping center becoming the area's commercial center.

One of the first enclosed shopping malls in the country opened near Shelby Drive and Elvis Presley Blvd in 1966. Southland Mall was a destination for shoppers from all over the region, and the area prospered.

Whitehaven's major tourist attractions are still Graceland mansion and the annual Elvis Week, attracting many thousands there annually to remember "The King" on the anniversary of his death on August 16, 1977. During the two decades he lived in Whitehaven, Elvis spent as much time as possible at his home and was a beloved "neighbor" to residents there.

The community takes its name from a Colonel Francis White who was an early settler and major property owner. White was influential in getting a rail line to come through what was first called White's Station, later White Haven and then Whitehaven. (In East Memphis, there is another community historically called White's Station, along the Memphis & Charleston -- now Norfolk Southern -- Railroad. Currently, it is called White Station.) This "Tennessee and Mississippi Railroad" was chartered in 1853, and the first trains ran in 1856. The first "White Haven" post office was opened in 1871. The roads and train tracks connected the cotton farms of the delta to Memphis markets, establishing strong commercial links.

Some of the other founding family names are Raines, Hale, McCorkle, and Harbin. E. W. Hale moved to the area in the 1880s and opened a store near what is now Whitehaven High School on Highway 51. Hale's Store was a landmark for many decades.

In 1926, WREC radio began operations there, and in 1928 Whitehaven's Hoyt B. Wooten was one of the first six television licensees in America.

Geography

Whitehaven is located on the southern part of Memphis, Tennessee.

Annual precipitation: 50 inches, well distributed throughout the year. March is wettest month while October is driest.

Annual snowfall: 5.2 inches per year

Average Temperatures: January 42 F July 81F

Education

Public Secondary Schools

• Whitehaven High School
• Hillcrest High School
• Fairley High School

Private Schools

• Bishop Byrne
• St. Paul

Other facts

• The city of Southaven, Mississippi was originally named South Whitehaven after this city, but the name was later changed, as the city was not part of Tennessee.
• DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia is from this neighborhood. He refers to the neighborhood as BHZ (Blackhaven Zone).
• Gangsta Boo, the self-proclaimed Memphis Queen and Queen of the South, is from this neighborhood. She refers to the neighborhood as BHZ (Blackhaven Zone).
• Bryant Terry, Eco Chef, Food Justice Activist, and Co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen is from this neighborhood. He graduated from Bishop Byrne High School.
• That Memphis Kid, co-founder of upcoming Alabama-based label, Black Presidential Entertainment, is from this neighborhood. He refers to the neighborhood as BHZ (Blackhaven Zone). He also refers to himself as the "Mayor of BHZ," a title inspired by Gangsta Blac's alias, Mayor of South Memphis.
• Tommy Wright III was born in this section of Memphis, he referred to it as 4 Corners, Pimpinville or just 4 Corners.
• Radio announcer and author Ryne "Doc" Hancock graduated from Whitehaven High School in 2003 and lived in the area from 2002 to 2003. He credits the neighborhood and people around him for starting his writing career.
• Curtis Weathers, founder and current director of the "Stay in the Game" program to help and encourage disadvantaged youth (graduates include Michael Wilks of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics), who went on to a stellar college and professional football career with the NFL's Cleveland Browns, is a Bishop Byrne grad and is from this neighborhood.
• Acclaimed Nashville songwriters Rivers Rutherford and Joe Leathers grew up in this neighborhood.