DIG MEMPHIS MYSTERIES
We need your help!
Below are images from our digital archive that are missing important details.
Can you help us fill in some of the gaps?
DIG MEMPHIS MYSTERIES is a multi-week series of mysteries, all centered around a common theme. If you suggest an answer, please share with us how you solved the mystery. Include your name, and we’ll give you credit on the record in the DIG archives. To keep up to date with all DIG MEMPHIS MYSTERIES, follow us on Instagram at @digmemphishistory!
Dig Memphis Mysteries (Unsolved)
Dig Memphis Mystery: 1987 WHBQ-TV Black History Month
This week is our final mystery in the Fall series focusing on newly digitized materials. The photos come from a collection that was used in…
Dig Memphis Mystery: People on Horseback Mystery
This week’s newly digitized photos were gifted together by Gordon Fox and are all part of the M Files mini collection: Sports in Memphis. Can…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Three People and a Model T
Today’s #MysteryMonday photos continue our Fall series highlighting newly digitized materials – this time with a focus on streetscapes! We have two photos that were…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Unidentified People in a Group Photo
BCC0197 This week marks the final mystery in our summer series, and it’s a challenging one. Some of the more puzzling photographs are images with…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Midtown Houses
“Midtown houses”. Robert Lanier Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital Identifier RLC023) This week’s mystery brings us another stretch of unlabeled houses in Memphis – this time…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Memphis Houses
“Memphis houses”. Robert Lanier Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: RLC253) The above image titled, “Memphis houses”, was taken November 2, 1969. We know the date,…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Building
“Building”. Pink Palace Photograph Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: PP852) The description accompanying this image only states, “Building with columns & four boys next to…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Christmas Party
“Christmas party”. The George W. Lee Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: XMAS019) “Bringing Christmas cheer”. The M Files, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: XMAS017) Do you…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Dining Room Table
In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we’re sharing a couple photographs that highlight family, friends, and food! Here are two mysteries from the archive…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Mysterious Portraits
DIG Memphis contains a large number of professional portraits, but many of them are unlabeled. Here are a handful from the archive without any indication…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Veterans Mystery
In honor of Veterans Day, we’re sharing photographs of those who have served in the past. There are many images of veterans in the DIG…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Native American Family Mystery
“Native American family”. Pink Palace Photograph Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: PP062) November is Native American Heritage Month. To celebrate the history, traditions, and culture…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Woman with Candlestick
“Woman with candlestick”. Saul Brown Photograph Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: SB310) Along with the crisp air and falling leaves, Fall usually ushers in a…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Colonial Road
“Colonial Road”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0030) The data accompanying this image indicates that the photograph was taken in 1962. Beyond that,…
Dig Memphis Mystery: S. Third Street
“S. Third Street, 1938”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0361) Many of our unmapped images are from the Municipal Reference Library and depict…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Speedway
“Scene on Speedway (2)”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0354) This photo shows the Speedway with trees and gardens along both sides. Can…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Washington Avenue
“Houses on Washington Avenue “. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0395) This picture, c.1900, shows Victorian-era houses lining a stretch of Washington Avenue….
Dig Memphis Mystery: Union Avenue
Residences on Union Avenue, 1900. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0377) These two photographs (each measuring 7.25 x 4.25 inches) labeled “Scenes on…
Dig Memphis Mysteries (Solved)
Dig Memphis Mystery: Early Football Team 3
Mystery Three“Sports Team” The M Files, Sports in Memphis, BCC1620 This photo holds a few mysteries. Our only clues can be found on their uniform…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Early Football Team 2
Mystery Two“Early Football Team” The M Files, Sports in Memphis, BCC1621 Looking closely at the center of this image, we can tell this is another…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Early Football Team
This photo of an early football team comes with plenty of clues! The back of the photo includes a list of names: Row Bottom. L…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Old Dueling Grounds
“Old Dueling Grounds”. Digital ID BCC1630 Included with this photo is a note that reads, “old dueling grounds, state line.” Perhaps this location is somewhere…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Memphis Buildings
Today’s #MysteryMonday photos came from a folder of historic photographs of Memphis Buildings taken by Poland Photographers. While the folder included easily recognizable images like…
Dig Memphis Mysteries: Solved Summer 2023
8/21/2023: “D. Canale & Co.”. The M Files, DIG MEMPHIS. (Digital Identifier Transport067) This week’s mystery photograph shows wagons lined up outside the offices of…
Dig Memphis Mysteries: Solved Winter 2023
Winter 2023 2/27/2023: “Woman on Beale”. Robert Lanier Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital Identifier RLC204) This week’s mystery will be the final one in our Winter…
Dig Memphis Mysteries: Solved Summer 2022
8/28/2022: “Trolley power lines”. Pink Palace Photograph Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: PP1250) Today marks our final mystery in the summer series! For this week’s…
Dig Memphis Mysteries: Solved Winter 2022
Winter 2022 3/14/2022: “Urban Renewal on Beale”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG MEMPHIS (Digital ID: Street1048) The photograph above is titled, “Urban Renewal on Beale” and…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Crump Boulevard at Night
“Crump Boulevard at night”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0144) As a final mystery for 2020, this photograph (our cover image) has yet…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Poplar Avenue
“Poplar Avenue”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0811) Here’s a photograph from an unusual perspective. The caption on top of photograph appears to…
Dig Memphis Mystery: McLean
“McLean”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0476) This undated photograph shows McLean Boulevard surrounded by trees. The only description given on the digital…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Castalia Street
“Castalia Street”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0006) Many of the remaining mystery photographs in our Memphis Streetscapes Collection depict areas undergoing various…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Hollywood Avenue
“Hollywood Avenue”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0524) This photograph is a challenge to locate due to the lack of notable structures or…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Dunn Avenue
“Dunn Avenue”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0068) Taken in 1956, this photograph captures construction workers along Dunn Avenue. The description on the…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Riverside Drive
“Riverside Drive”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0291) This image shows Riverside Drive while it was under construction. The caption on the back…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Madison Avenue
“Madison Avenue”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0496) This image shows Northcross Machine Mfg. Co. on Madison Avenue, and the record indicates that…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Chelsea Avenue
“Chelsea Avenue (2)”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0014) The markings on the back of this photograph indicate that it was taken on…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Medical Center
“Medical Center”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0402) This photograph, taken in the 1960s, depicts an intersection in the Medical Center district; however,…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Suffrage Parade
“Suffrage parade “. Pink Palace Photograph Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID PP1038) 100 years ago today, on August 24, 1920, Tennessee Governor Albert H. Roberts…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Hernando Street
“Hernando Street”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0519) This 1895 photograph shows homes along Hernando Street. The age of the image and the…
Dig Memphis Mystery: Idlewild Avenue
” “Idlewild Avenue”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0527) The above image is another photograph that is part of the series showing old…
Dig Memphis Mysteries: Solved April to July 2020
7/27/2020: “Vance Avenue residences”. Memphis Streetscapes Collection, DIG Memphis. (Digital ID Street0965) These two pictures show Victorian-era houses on Vance Avenue around the turn of…
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DIG Memphis collects and preserves material representing life in Memphis and the Mid-South. We welcome donations of photographs and other digital items that will help build our collections more fully. Click here for more information on how to submit your items to DIG Memphis.
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Resources:
Here are some resources that can help with your search.
City Directories 1849-1943 – Shelby County Registrar (link)
Commercial Appeal Archives 1894-Today – ProQuest (link)
Historic Shelby County – Aerial Maps (link)
Maps of Memphis (link)
Vehicle Registration Plates of TN – Wikipedia (link)