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49-653: MCS served the entire city of Memphis. Some areas of unincorporated Shelby County were zoned to Memphis City Schools from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Some unincorporated areas of Shelby County were zoned to schools in Shelby County Schools for elementary and middle school and Memphis City Schools for high school. As of August 2014 there are six new municipal school districts. Collierville Schools , Bartlett City Schools , Millington Municipal Schools , Germantown Municipal Schools , Arlington Community Schools and Lakeland School System . Shelby County Schools serves

98-574: A suspended monorail known as the Memphis Suspension Railway connecting the city to Mud Island . Shelby County is the site of Memphis International Airport , located 3 miles (5 km) south of the center of Memphis. Numbers refer to the map at right. 35°11′N 89°53′W  /  35.18°N 89.89°W  / 35.18; -89.89 List of counties in Tennessee [REDACTED] There are 95 counties in

147-412: A household in the county was $ 39,593, and the median income for a family was $ 47,386. Males had a median income of $ 36,932 versus $ 26,776 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 20,856. About 12.90% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the poverty line , including 22.90% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over. The first county government was established as

196-611: A quarterly court in 1820. During Reconstruction following the American Civil War , Governor William G. Brownlow appointed a five-member commission to govern the county. When the state drafted a new constitution in 1870, it required county officials to be elected by the people or the Quarterly Court. By 1910 the Shelby County Quarterly Court had 50 members, making it inefficient; some prominent people complained it

245-587: A specific area (which is unconstitutional). The Tennessee state legislature passed the law again, to include all of the state. All six suburbs voted again for the municipal districts and started classes on August 4, 2014. Public transportation is provided by the Memphis Area Transit Authority , also known as MATA for short. In addition to MATA buses , the MATA operates the MATA Trolley . The city also has

294-642: Is part of the Memphis, TN– MS – AR Metropolitan Statistical Area . It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River . Located within the Mississippi Delta , the county was developed as a center of cotton plantations in the antebellum era, and cotton continued as an important commodity crop well into the 20th century. The economy has become more diversified. This area along the Mississippi River valley

343-424: Is the largest of the state's 95 counties , both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memphis , a port on the Mississippi River and the second most populous city in the state. The county was named for Governor Isaac Shelby (1750–1826) of Kentucky. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee with a majority African American population, along with Haywood County . Shelby County

392-564: The Memphis city limits), where the river flows out of Tennessee and into Mississippi . As of the 2020 United States census , there were 929,744 people, 353,950 households, and 215,446 families residing in the county. As of the 2010 United States Census , there were 927,644 people living in the county. 52.1% were Black or African American , 40.6% White , 2.3% Asian , 0.2% Native American , 3.3% of some other race and 1.4 of two or more races . 5.6% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). As of

441-618: The Shelby County School Board . This system was changed to comply with interpretation by the state that its constitution required that county officials, including school board members, should be elected by all residents of the county, and provisions of the state Education Improvement Act. In 1996 under what was known as Plan C, the Shelby County Commission established seven single-member special election districts for election of county school board members by all residents of

490-451: The U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Schools Program , which honors schools that are academically superior or demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement. These schools are: Memphis City Schools was headquartered in the Francis E. Coe Administration Building, It was shared with the pre-merger Shelby County Schools . The building has two wings, one for each district. As of 2013

539-415: The U.S. State of Tennessee . As of 2023, Shelby County was both Tennessee's most populous county, with 910,042 residents, and the largest county in area, covering an area of 755 sq mi (1,955 km ). The least populous county was Pickett County (5,128) and the smallest in area was Trousdale County , covering 114 sq mi (295 km ). As of the same year, Davidson County , in which

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588-500: The University of Memphis . Cordova is home to Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary . Germantown is home to a satellite campus of Union University . Shelby County Schools (SCS) is a school district serving all of Memphis and most unincorporated areas. Suburban school districts: Shelby County Schools was previously a school district that operated almost all public schools in non-Memphis areas of Shelby County, Tennessee, until

637-499: The census of 2000, there were 897,472 people, 338,366 households, and 228,735 families living in the county. The population density was 1,189 inhabitants per square mile (459/km ). There were 362,954 housing units at an average density of 481 per square mile (186/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 48.56% Black , or African American , 47.34% White , 0.20% Native American , 1.64% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 1.20% from other races , and 1.02% from two or more races. 2.60% of

686-465: The center of population for Tennessee was located at 35°49′16″N 86°19′57″W  /  35.821189°N 86.332487°W  / 35.821189; -86.332487 , 3.5 mi (5.6 km) southeast of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County . The center of population pinpoints the location at which the population of the state, as placed on a map of the state where they reside, would balance out

735-557: The Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, as their vote would be diluted. Although Memphis City had its own school system, the Memphis population made up 74.8% of the county's population in the 1990 census, so its representatives would dominate an elected county school board, with six of seven positions. Thus Memphis representatives would dominate a system intended to serve only county residents and students who lived outside

784-539: The Quarterly Court. These have been redistricted as needed based on decennial census population changes. In 1975, the people voted to ratify the Shelby County Restructure Act, creating a single elected executive, with the title of mayor, and an eleven-member legislative body (now called the County Commission). The commission has been expanded to thirteen members. The mayor is elected at-large and all

833-469: The Unified System and formed their own municipal districts. Their residents had previously voted in favor of creating municipal school districts, and all voted to pass the related sales tax hike except for Millington, which narrowly rejected the sales tax hike by three votes. On November 27, 2012, U.S. district court Judge Samuel Mays voided this vote since the state law passed at the time applied only to

882-697: The White students left. In July 2011, the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners voted to postpone opening Memphis City Schools indefinitely until the Memphis City Council provided money set aside for the school system. The incident was reported in national news. In 2011 Marcus Pohlmann, a Rhodes College political science professor, wanted to study the Memphis schools to compare performances of schools with low income student bodies and schools with higher income student bodies. He concluded that he

931-483: The area as well as attractions in the city of Memphis. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 785 square miles (2,030 km ), of which 763 square miles (1,980 km ) is land and 22 square miles (57 km ) (2.8%) is water. It is the largest county in Tennessee by area. The lowest point in the state of Tennessee is located on the Mississippi River in Shelby County (just outside

980-409: The capital Nashville is located, covers 502 sq mi (1,300 km ) with a population of 712,334. The population of the state of Tennessee as of the 2023 census estimate was 7,126,489 in an area of 42,169 sq mi (109,217 km ). The oldest county is Washington County , founded in 1777. The most recently formed county is Chester County (1879). According to the 2020 census,

1029-406: The city of Memphis and as well the unincorporated areas of Shelby County. In the mid-1960s, the district had about 130,000 students. The numbers of white students and black students were almost equal. In the mid-1960s, the district still segregated its schools. Daniel Kiel, a law professor at the University of Memphis who had authored publications about school integration in Memphis, said that

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1078-550: The city. The US district court found in this case: As a result, the County Commissioners established seven single-member special election districts in the county outside the limits of Memphis, for the purpose of electing school board members to the Shelby County School Board. Shelby County's first elected mayor was Roy Nixon, who served from 1976 to 1978. The current Shelby County mayor is Lee Harris , who

1127-448: The corridor linking the wings had a double-locked doors, and the glass panels had been covered by particle boards. Irving Hamer, the deputy superintendent of Memphis City Schools, described the barrier as "our Berlin Wall ." Shelby County, Tennessee Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee . As of the 2020 census , the population was 929,744. It

1176-431: The county commissioners are elected from 13 districts. The members of the county commission serve four-year terms. Other elected officials in Shelby County include the sheriff , the chief law enforcement officer; trustee, chief tax collector, and assessor, the chief property appraiser. The government has an annual budget of $ 1.1 billion and 6,000 employees. Until 1996, the Shelby County Commission appointed members to

1225-585: The county seat was located in then called Raleigh, Tennessee (now part of Memphis), on the Wolf River . After the American Civil War, in recognition of the growth of Memphis and its importance to the state economy, the seat was moved there. (Raleigh has now been absorbed within the city limits of Memphis.) The lowlands in the Mississippi Delta, closest to the Mississippi River, were developed before

1274-464: The county. This was challenged in the case known as Board of County Commissioners of Shelby County Tennessee v. Burson . Shelby County and its Board of Commissioners as plaintiffs, joined by mayors of the six suburban municipalities, filed suit in 1996 against Plan C, arguing that their rights were violated under the "one person, one vote" principle embodied in the Equal Protection Clause of

1323-813: The eastern suburbs are some of the most Republican areas in Tennessee and the South. In 2020 , Joe Biden received 64.42% of the vote, which has been the highest share for a Democrat since 1944 . Shelby County is home to fourteen institutions of higher learning and satellite campuses of institutions whose main campus is in another county. Memphis is home to Baptist College of Health Sciences , Christian Brothers University , Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide (Memphis Campus), Harding School of Theology , LeMoyne–Owen College , Memphis College of Art , Memphis Theological Seminary , Rhodes College , Southern College of Optometry , Southwest Tennessee Community College , University of Tennessee Health Science Center , and

1372-488: The efforts to desegregate were, as paraphrased by Sam Dillon of The New York Times , "subterfuge and delay". Desegregation first began with the Memphis 13 , a group of first graders. In 1973, the federal government ordered desegregation busing in Memphis. As a result, massive white flight occurred in Memphis City Schools. In 1973, the school district had 71,000 White students. In a period of four years, 40,000 of

1421-526: The end of the 2012–2013 school year; almost all areas in Shelby County that were outside the city of Memphis were zoned to schools operated by SCS. Schools in Memphis were operated by Memphis City Schools . On June 30, 2013, Memphis city and Shelby County schools consolidated, forming a unified county school system (still called Shelby County Schools), this lasted one year. In 2014, the incorporated suburbs of Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland, and Millington (other than Memphis) broke away from

1470-560: The executive commission of the county was abolished. In 1964, the US Supreme Court ruled in Baker v. Carr that legislative districts had to be apportioned by population under the Equal Protection Clause , a principle known as one man, one vote . This change was incorporated in Shelby County, which had been biased toward geographic representation. In 1965, there were nine districts established, of roughly equal population, to elect members to

1519-520: The freedmen were enfranchised. The eastern part of the state retained its Unionist leanings and supported the Republican Party. Blacks in the west also supported the Republican Party. Most conservative whites supported the Democrats. From 1877 to 1950, there were 20 lynchings of blacks by whites in Shelby County, the highest number of any county in the state. Most blacks were disenfranchised around

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1568-507: The individual campus. Trousers, shorts, skirts, and jumpers had to be black, tan, or navy blue. Denim clothing was not allowed. When MCS and SCS merged in 2013, the former MCS schools kept this uniform policy while the existing SCS schools did not, since the suburbs planned to form their own districts and leave SCS within a year. Alternative Zoned Zoned Alternative 6-8 6-8 7-8 Zoned Alternative Zoned K-6 K-5 1-5 K-4 K-6 Seven Memphis City Schools have been recognized by

1617-464: The legal right of occupancy in an act of the United States government. In cases where counties had been formed from that territory, the legal right of American Indian occupancy was revoked in a federal act prior to the formal establishment of the county. For Tennessee, ten treaties were negotiated between 1770 and 1835, defining the areas assigned to European settlers and to American Indians, regulating

1666-599: The map. The geographic center , the point where the map of Tennessee would balance without the population, is located 5 mi (8 km) northeast of Murfreesboro. In 1976, the Rutherford County Historical Society marked the geographic center of Tennessee with an obelisk . Some of the counties were formed in part or completely from lands previously controlled by American Indians. The "Indian lands" were territories that American Indians had occupied from pre-Columbian times and to which they were granted

1715-408: The outskirts of Memphis where land was cheap. Suburbanization, with retail businesses following new residents, took place in the county, drawing population out of the city. With continued residential and suburban development, the population of the metropolitan area became majority white. Six towns in the county have become incorporated; other communities are unincorporated. Residents enjoy many parks in

1764-445: The pediment groups, Canon Law , Roman Law , Statutory Law , Civil Law and Criminal Law . Female allegorical figures can be found on the north facade cornice representing Integrity, Courage, Mercy, Temperance, Prudence and Learning. Flanking the main entrances are over-life-sized seated figures embodying Wisdom, Justice, Liberty, Authority, Peace and Prosperity. It is by far the state's largest courthouse. The courthouse

1813-443: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 338,366 households, out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.80% were married couples living together, 20.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

1862-421: The right of occupancy regarding the lands. The remaining indigenous population was eventually removed from Tennessee to what became the state of Oklahoma . The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. FIPS codes are five-digit numbers; for Tennessee the codes start with 47 and are completed with

1911-512: The same latitude as present-day St. Louis, Missouri. The Shelby County area was part of the lands acquired by the United States government from the Chickasaw as part of the Jackson Purchase of 1818 . Shelby County was established by European-American migrants in 1819 and named for Isaac Shelby , the former governor of Kentucky who had helped negotiate the land acquisition. From 1827 to 1868,

1960-480: The three-digit county code. The FIPS code for each county in the table links to census data for that county. There are two defunct counties in Tennessee: Three Tennessee counties operate under consolidated city–county governments, a city and county that have been merged into one jurisdiction. As such, these governments are simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation , and a county, which

2009-751: The turn of the century when the state passed laws raising barriers to voter registration; the legislature also imposed Jim Crow laws, including racial segregation of public facilities. Blacks were mostly closed out of the political system for more than six decades. In the 20th century, mechanization of agriculture reduced the need for farm workers at a time when industries and railroads in the North were recruiting workers. The Great Migration resulted in many African Americans moving from rural areas into Memphis or out of state to northern cities for work and social and political opportunities. After World War II, highways were constructed that led to development of much new housing on

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2058-480: The twenty-first century, the county has become reliably Democratic, due mainly to the influence of Memphis and being majority African American. Barack Obama twice won the county with more than 60 percent of the vote. In 2024 , the county was carried by the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris , who won 61.8 percent of the vote to Donald Trump 's 36.4 percent. Democratic strength is concentrated in Memphis itself, while

2107-521: The war for large cotton plantations; their laborers were overwhelmingly enslaved African Americans, whom planters transported from the east or purchased in the domestic slave trade . Well before the American Civil War , the population of the county was majority black, most of whom were slaves. Memphis developed as a major cotton market, with many brokers. After the war and emancipation, many freedmen stayed on these lands by working as sharecroppers . Tennessee continued to have competitive politics after

2156-452: Was "too democratic." E. H. Crump , the political boss of Memphis who was also influential in the county and state, gained a 1911 legislative act creating a three-member executive commission for the Shelby County Commission, which could override the court on all issues except setting property taxes, which was protected by the state constitution. He also had the number of districts reduced to nineteen and then seven. After Crump's death in 1954,

2205-400: Was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.18. In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.20% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.80 males. The median income for

2254-501: Was elected in 2018 after having served as the minority leader of the Tennessee Senate . Notes : The Shelby County Courthouse, in Memphis on Adams Avenue between North 2nd and North 3rd streets, was designed by James Gamble Rogers and completed in 1909. This neoclassical pile features a long portico topped by a cornice supported by massive Ionic columns . The ambitious sculptural program designed by J. Massey Rhind includes

2303-723: Was featured in the movie The Silence of the Lambs as the place where Dr. Hannibal Lecter was held and escapes custody. The courthouse is included in the Adams Avenue Historic District , listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During the mid-to-late twentieth century, Shelby County was competitive, voting for the Democratic candidate six times and the Republican candidate five times between 1952 and 1992. In

2352-497: Was long occupied by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. In historic times, the Chickasaw controlled much of this area. They are believed to be descendants of the important Mississippian culture , which established fortified and complex cities. The largest of these was Cahokia , which was active from about 950CE into the 15th century. It was developed on the east side of the Mississippi in present-day southern Illinois, roughly on

2401-496: Was unable to do so because "There are no middle-class black schools in Memphis. They’re all poor." All MCS students were required to wear school uniforms from the fall of 2002 until the district was dissolved in 2013. Students could wear oxford shirts , polo shirts , turtlenecks, and blouses with "Peter Pan" collars. Colors varied, depending upon the school. In general, all white shirts were acceptable. Sweatshirts had to be white, black, navy blue, tan or any other colors approved by

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