Memphis State University - DeSoto Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

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j he location for the State • i Normal School plant is all J that could be desired. The sight embraces 81 acres of land.. .on the Southern Railroad, and connects with the city by a regular street car line also. ...The buildings are located on an elevation which drains naturally in all directions.... The community has been free from typhoid and malaria for many years. ...In short, we are offering all the advantages of the city and retaining all the advantages of the country. Does this sound familiar? That was how the West Tennessee State Normal School Bulletin described MSU ' s location 75 years ago to all the incoming students. Thanks to donations of land, money and $300,000 in bond pledges, Memphis beat out the cities of Humboldt, Milan, Trenton and Covington for the coveted teacher ' s college which Governor Malcom Patterson agreed to have built in West Tennessee. Also considered for the Normal School location was an abandoned high school on Poplar, a sight in Raleigh and one on Macon near Graham. However, Joseph H. Creath ' s cotton field on the Southern Railroad was the unanimous choice by the State Committee. The state purchased the eighty- plus acres for $25,600 in 1911. The land, which now lies between Walker, Patterson, Zach Curlin and south of Norriswood, is still at the heart of the campus. In 1912, Memphis had a population of 131,105 (1910 census); and an area of 20.1 square miles. The new campus was well outside of Memphis, which only went as far as East Parkway. The school was not annexed into the city until 1929. During the early days, Southern, Goodlett and Spottswood streets were graded dirt roads. Some of Mr. Creath ' s dead cotton stalks were still lying around the campus to be stepped on by the new students. Parking tickets were no problem; there was no parking on campus. li w I 0 111 K 111 Instead, students could take the five- cent street car ride to town or catch a train at the Normal Station for longer trips. The station was closed in 1949 and demolished in 1950, but its foundation is still visible between the train tracks and Walker Avenue. Today Memphis ' population has grown to 645,760 and encompasses 264 square miles. The eastern edge of the city limits is now about eight miles past the campus. Some of Memphis ' suburbs such as Bartlett and Germantown have grown more in the last 15 years than Memphis has in the last 75, adding more potential students to MSU. The former small country college has now grown into a large commuter university. A majority of students are from the Memphis area and commute to school, but there are still many from other areas of the state, country and world. Devin Greaney (Map courtesy of MSU Cartographic Services) Captured Memories

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Considerably smaller. Memphis State ' s campus in 1 934 contained only 1 buildings, including the president ' s house which no longer exists. The Southern Railroad was still a viable part of the town at that time. (Photo from the Mississippi Valley Collection) Slowly but surely the rural cotton field which housed the State Normal School has become the urban, sprawling... Location of the Campus Home away from home. Veteran ' s Villiage, an apartment complex built in 1947 to house the veterans of WWII and their families, was located approximately where the Meeman Journalism building and the Physical Plant are located today. Veteran ' s Village was torn down in 1966. (Photo from the Mississippi Valley Collection) Some things don ' t change. Memphis State in 1965 was a growing part of the city of Memphis. Trees were abundant and parking was limited. Just a few short years later, in 1968, MSU gained a new dorm, Central Towers complex, to help alleviate the housing shortage. (Photo from the Mississippi Valley Collection) L- » Location of Campus

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Beginning in 1912 students had to face admission standards based on moral character, mandatory church attendance and dress codes. All of these were part of Memphis State ' s Rules and Regulations Rules and Regulations