Memphis Area Code 901: Complete Guide to the Home of the Blues (2026)
Complete guide to Memphis area code 901 and surrounding codes. Learn about the tri-state metro spanning Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, its history, time zone, and how to identify scam calls.
The Memphis area code is 901 — one of the original 86 area codes from 1947, and one of the few major US city codes that has never been overlaid. Memphis is also a tri-state metro: suburbs in Mississippi use 662, and West Memphis, Arkansas uses 870. The metro area spans 9 counties across 3 states and is home to approximately 1.3 million people.
This is the city where an 18-year-old paid $3.98 to record two songs and became the biggest music star in history, where a CEO bet his company's last $5,000 at a blackjack table and won enough to keep the planes flying, where a yellow fever epidemic killed so many people the city lost its charter for 14 years, and where a pyramid originally built as a basketball arena is now the world's wildest retail store. Memphis is also where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel — and where the sanitation workers he came to support finally won their fight 12 days later.
Memphis Area Code Quick Facts
Memphis Area Codes: A Tri-State Metro
One of the original 86 NANP codes. Covered all of Tennessee until 1954, then western TN until 2001. Now serves Memphis core: Shelby, Tipton, and Fayette counties.
Northern Mississippi including Memphis suburbs: Southaven, Olive Branch, Horn Lake (DeSoto County). Split from Mississippi's original 601.
Eastern Arkansas including West Memphis and Crittenden County. Split from Arkansas's original 501.
September 17 — Western Tennessee outside Memphis metro. Jackson, Dyersburg, Union City, Martin. Split from 901.
Room 306: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
At 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. stepped onto the second-floor balcony of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, 450 Mulberry Street. He was preparing to leave for dinner, speaking with colleagues in the parking lot below. A single bullet from a Remington .30-06 rifle struck the lower right side of his face. He was 39 years old. He was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 PM.
James Earl Ray, an escaped convict, fled from a rooming house across from the motel, dropping a package containing the rifle and binoculars — both with his fingerprints. He was arrested on June 8 at London Heathrow Airport. Ray pled guilty on March 10, 1969, to avoid the electric chair and was sentenced to 99 years. He recanted his confession three days later. King had come to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. The Lorraine Motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum, designated a National Historic Landmark.
"I Am a Man": The Strike That Brought King to Memphis
On February 1, 1968, sanitation workers Echol Cole (36) and Robert Walker (30) were crushed to death inside the compactor of their garbage truck at approximately 4:20 PM during a rainstorm. They had climbed into the back to shelter from the rain — as Black workers, they were prevented from seeking shelter in nearby buildings. Two other men had died the same way in 1964, but the city refused to replace the defective equipment.
On February 12, 930 of 1,100 sanitation workers walked off the job. They earned $1.60–$1.90 per hour; 40% qualified for welfare. Workers marched daily carrying the iconic "I Am a Man" signs. King came to support them, delivering his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech on April 3. He was killed the next day. Twelve days after King's assassination, on April 16, the city recognized the union and raised wages.
FedEx: A C-Minus Paper, $5,000 at Blackjack, and an $88 Billion Empire
In 1965, Yale undergraduate Fred Smith wrote a term paper proposing guaranteed overnight delivery. His professor gave it a C. Smith founded Federal Express in 1971, investing his $4 million family inheritance and raising $91 million in venture capital. Operations began in 1973 out of Memphis.
In 1974, with only $5,000 left in company accounts and a $24,000 fuel bill due, Smith flew to Las Vegas after a failed funding pitch. He took the company's last $5,000 to the blackjack tables and won $27,000 — enough to cover fuel and keep the planes flying one more week. He then raised another $11 million. By 1976, revenue hit $75 million.
Today, the FedEx Memphis SuperHub is the largest express air hub on Earth: 42 miles of conveyor belts, capacity to sort 484,000 shipments per hour, 250+ daily flights, and over 12,000 workers across day and night shifts. FedEx FY2024 revenue: $87.7 billion. It employs 35,000 people in the Memphis area.
Sun Records: $3.98 Changed Music Forever
In August 1953, an 18-year-old truck driver named Elvis Presley walked into Sam Phillips's Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue and paid $3.98 to record two songs. On July 5, 1954, during a recording session, Presley fooled around with an up-tempo version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)." Phillips hit record. Rock and roll was born.
On November 21, 1955, Phillips sold Elvis's contract to RCA Victor for $35,000 — the largest amount ever paid for a single performer at the time — plus $5,000 in back royalties. On December 4, 1956, the "Million Dollar Quartet" session brought together Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash for an impromptu jam.
Sun Records produced 226 singles over 16 years — more rock and roll records than any other label of its era. Its alumni: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, B.B. King, and Howlin' Wolf.
The 1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic: Memphis Lost Its City Charter
In August 1878, yellow fever struck Memphis (population ~50,000). Within days, 25,000 residents fled, leaving about 20,000 behind — mostly those too poor to leave. Of the 20,000 who remained, approximately 17,000 contracted the disease. The death toll: 5,150 people. Over 90% of remaining white residents contracted yellow fever with a ~70% fatality rate.
Economic damage exceeded $15 million in 1878 dollars. On January 15, 1879, Memphis lost its city charter due to crushing debt — becoming a mere "taxing district" of the State of Tennessee. The city did not regain its charter for 14 years. It was Memphis's third major yellow fever outbreak (previous epidemics hit in 1855 and 1873). The disaster ultimately led to the construction of a modern sewer system that transformed Memphis from one of America's filthiest cities to a model of public sanitation.
The Bass Pro Pyramid: From Failed Arena to the World's Wildest Store
The Memphis Pyramid opened November 9, 1991, as a 20,142-seat arena at a cost of $65 million. Standing 321 feet tall (32 stories) with base sides of 591 feet, it was the tenth-tallest pyramid in the world. It hosted University of Memphis basketball and briefly the NBA Grizzlies — until both left for FedExForum in 2004. The Pyramid sat vacant for 11 years.
In 2015, it reopened as a Bass Pro Shops megastore after a $200+ million renovation: 535,000 sq ft of retail, 10 aquariums holding 600,000 gallons of water with 1,800+ fish, a cypress swamp with 100-foot trees and alligator pools, a 103-room hotel with treehouse cabins, a bowling alley, archery range, and the tallest freestanding elevator in America — rising 28 stories to the apex observation deck. It holds the World Record Academy certification as the world's largest pyramid-shaped commercial building.
Beale Street: The Home of the Blues
W.C. Handy arrived in Memphis in 1903 and wrote "The Memphis Blues" in 1909 — the song that helped give birth to an entire genre. In 1916, he wrote "Beale Street Blues," which led to the street's name change from Beale Avenue. On December 15, 1977, Congress officially declared Beale Street the "Home of the Blues."
After the 1968 riots following King's assassination, Beale Street deteriorated. Urban renewal projects demolished 474 buildings and displaced 1,500 residents. Of the original 625 buildings, just 65 remained by 1979. A major revitalization in the 1980s and 1990s restored the street as a music and tourism destination — today one of America's most iconic entertainment districts.
Memphis BBQ: Dry Rub vs. Wet, and the World's Largest Pork Contest
Memphis-style barbecue is pork-centric: ribs and pulled shoulder. The great divide: "dry" ribs (coated in a spice rub and smoked without sauce) versus "wet" ribs (brushed with sauce before, during, and after cooking). Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous, open since 1948, popularized dry-rub ribs. Corky's BBQ, founded in 1984, pioneered shipping BBQ overnight starting in 1987.
The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is listed in the Guinness World Records as the largest pork barbecue contest in the world: 250+ teams from 20+ states, over 100,000 attendees, and $190,000+ in prize money.
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