So the popular saying goes, "Memphis is a city of Churches." And the church community has always played a vital role in the growth and development of the city.

Ida B. Wells

Burkle was a wealthy livestock trader who also opened the first bakery in Memphis. But to his family and fellow conspirators, Burkle was one of the conductors on the "Underground Railroad. "

On the Heritage Tour, you'll see First Baptist Beale Street Church which was the largest Black Baptist Church in 1889 when the great Ida B. Wells published and edited the Free Speech and Headlight newspaper out of the church's basement. Wells was the champion of the anti-lynching movement and used her newspaper to rebuke the evils of this horrible practice.

And in more recent times, great churches like East Trigg Baptist, hosted some of the greatest gospel singing that often included white Memphians and such personalities as Elvis Aaron Presley. The noted writer and preacher, Rev. W. Herbert Brewster was the longtime pastor.

Memphis serves as the international headquarters for church denominations like the Church of God in Christ. Its Mason Temple facility named after church founder, Bishop C. H. Mason, is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his last inspired speech in Memphis

On the Heritage Tour, you'll learn of many old and beautiful church edifices that maintain their own legacies in Memphis history.