Memphis 200: Bringing life back to Victorian Village

By Action News 5 Staff

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - As Memphis celebrates its 200th birthday, we’re taking a look back at her history, and previewing what’s to come. The future has never been brighter for Victorian Village, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.

Victorian Village has been Scott Blake's home for 25 years. "We call ourselves the first suburb of Memphis,” Blake said. “I love the history of it all.” Blake lives in Laurel Hill, a stately house built in 1868.

Blake is the Executive Director of the Victorian Village Community Development Corporation and believes this is the year his beloved neighborhood gets reborn. “I really do,” Blake said. “I mean, especially after living here for so long, and feeling like you’re the only soldier on the wall.” Victorian Village is where the wealthiest Memphians built spectacular mansions in the 1800′s, a time when riverboats ruled, and cotton was king.

Adams Avenue, once farmland on the outskirts of the city, became known as Millionaires Row, and grand houses hosted grand parties. “Teddy Roosevelt was here, in fact, just across the street,” Blake said. “Came for dinner one night. The family plated their sterling silver gold for the occasion.” But as decades passed, Memphis grew and families moved east.