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ozonentrance
 
location:
Memphis, TN
Gender: Male
 |  | Southern Funeral Home
< on 2/21/2011 3:50 AM >
|  | | | So, last week a friend and I were driving back to midtown from downtown (Memphis, that is) and went the long way through one of the many not-so-great parts of town, going down Vance. It's a super rough area, but, in the late 19th/early 20th century, that area (Vance, Lauderdale, etc) was the nicest, richest neighborhood in the city (and, at the time, one of the best in the south).
Anyway, there was a lot of wrecking equipment outside of the Southern Funeral Home, with caution tape, etc, and some demolition of the porch had been completed. So, we had to come back that weekend to take a look.
When we got there, a bit more had been torn down, but there was still a lot of house to explore. I don't know the exact history of the house (I will probably end up checking microfilm at the main library when I get the chance), but the construction was pretty amazing (the floor rafters were solid, huge pieces of wood, fifteen foot ceilings, 1-2 foot thick brick veneer, vintage tile). With the exception of an addition that seemed pretty mid-century, I'd venture to say it was built in the late 1800's (if not somewhat earlier).
I happened to drive by again today, and a good bit more is down, so I think the window of opportunity is, sadly, over. I did a quick search and found this picture of it in better condition (this photo, of course, is not by me):
Southern Funeral Home South's Finest by BullyRook, on Flickr
Also, found out it's being torn down due to Mayor AC Wharton's plan to eliminate blight in Memphis (ha! good luck). There was definite evidence of squatters having inhabited the place, but - even with pieces torn off of it, this structure was built extraordinarily well and really, truly could have been preserved without too much structural work. But, given the area, no investor in his right mind would have touched it.
Another piece of Memphis that could be (and had been) beautiful ends up abandoned, mistreated, and torn down.
Instead of slipping into even more of a tangent, here are some pictures! I just use a point and shoot camera, nothing fancy. I did edit a couple of these to try to make them look a bit nicer, but I'm neither a photographer nor a graphic artist - hope you enjoy them anyway!
Full set at: http://www.flickr....72157625959540645/
DSCF4322 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4236 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4255 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4262 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4269 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4298 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4320 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4228 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4229 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4275 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4274 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4276 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
DSCF4315 by Victor_Ward, on Flickr
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Avius
   
location:
Washington DC / NOVA
Gender: Male
Wow you guys!
| |  | Re: Southern Funeral Home
<Reply # 1 on 2/22/2011 2:55 PM >
| | | | Neat. I suppose they had already removed all the old funerary equipment? No embalming tables or old caskets laying around?
In places forgotten, tread where you will. -=- http://www.flickr.com/photos/avius/ |
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ozonentrance
location:
Memphis, TN
Gender: Male
| | Re: Southern Funeral Home
<Reply # 2 on 2/25/2011 12:51 PM >
| | | | Other than some trash and sleeping bags, it was pretty much empty. I was hoping there'd be stuff like that in the basement, but no dice. The only funeral home-y staples were some old hearses outside either on blocks or flats.
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MonkeyPunchBaby
  
| | Re: Southern Funeral Home
<Reply # 3 on 2/25/2011 1:13 PM >
| | | | I would so be trying to buy one of those hearses.
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