General James Winchester one of the original owners of the land now called Memphis gave the city its name, likening it to the Egyptian city on the Nile. James Winchester was such a history fan that he named his sons Marcus Brutus, Lucilius, Valerius Publicola and Napoleon. It was Marcus, the eldest, whom Winchester dispatched to West Tennessee in 1818 to inspect a land acquisition. The owners were anxious to get the town laid out so they could sell lots. Seeing busy river traffic along the Mississippi, Marcus decided the bluff could be a good place to make a living. He moved here, and in 1819 helped draw up a plan for the town of Memphis. When the city was incorporated in 1826, Marcus Winchester became its first mayor. At the time Memphis was only four blocks wide and had a population of around fifty people. Historical accounts indicate the seeds of his undoing were planted in 1823 when he married "a woman of color." While many landowners lived with women of mixed race, it was rare, even illegal, for them to marry. Marcus threw caution to the wind. He wed Amirante "Mary" Loiselle in New Orleans, her hometown, where mixed-race marriages were legal. She was reputedly one of the most beautiful women ever seen in this part of the country. Her father had her educated in France, and she was brilliant. She was also one-sixteenth black. It was enough for her to be ostracized by what was then a pretty raggedy social society. The divisiveness of politics and social tensions leading up to the Civil War turned Winchester into a target. Eventually, city aldermen passed a law that anyone of mixed race could not live within the city limits of Memphis. It made it necessary for Mrs. Winchester to live about a half-block outside the city limits. Marcus remained with his wife. The romance that brought him down was probably one of the most perfect romances that there was. Marcus Winchester was buried in the city's first cemetery. A historical marker says the cemetery "went to ruins" out of neglect in the yellow fever epidemics. Sadly, the old cemetery is now buried under a city garage!

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The Pyramid Arena, on the banks of the Might Mississippi, in downtown Memphis has been a focal point on the city's skyline since 1991. But since 2005, the arena is no longer an active arena as the FedEx Forum has become the Memphis venue of choice. Though there have been numerous proposals regarding the use of the Pyramid, its future currently remains uncertain. Some interesting facts about the Pyramid. The Pyramid is 321 feet tall, or 32 stories - the third largest pyramid in the world. The Memphis, Tennessee pyramid is a 60 percent replica of the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. A 20 foot statue of Ramses the Great stands guard at the Pyramid's entrance. The arena seats 21,000. The interior of the Pyramid has more than half a million square feet of usable space. The Pyramid's exterior is clad in stainless steel and should last as the "great" pyrimds of Egypt have...if man will let it.

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