Memphis, AL

Memphis, also called Old Memphis, occupies a Tombigbee River landing in southwestern Pickens County near the Mississippi line. James William Wallis established the settlement in 1841, and its ferry and Jackson's Landing made the river the town's early route for cotton and steamboats. A railroad bypass through Aliceville shifted that traffic away, leaving agriculture and county-road travel as the clearest local setting. Students attend Pickens County schools, and County Highway 1 connects the town to surrounding farms. The Tombigbee still organizes nearby recreation and history: Pickensville Campground and the U.S. Snagboat Montgomery sit at the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam on Aliceville Lake.