Most People Don't Know The Fascinating History Behind This Pink Palace In Tennessee
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Meghan Kraft
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If you’ve ever shopped at the famed Piggly-Wiggly, then you already have a personal connection to this East Memphis behemoth. The Pink Palace is a gorgeous structure located on the fringes of the great city of Memphis, and it has a deep history that not many folks know. Whether or not you’ve been to Memphis, this gorgeous now-museum is the best kind of place to visit – the history is incredible!
Clarence Saunders, best known for building a storefront empire as the founder of the Piggly Wiggly Grocery chain, announced in the spring of 1922 that he would be building a majestic home outside the main drag of East Memphis, Tennessee. Nowadays, we know his home as the Pink Palace Museum.
The home comes in at almost 40,000 square feet and is faced with stunning pink marble sourced out-of-state, from Georgia. Although grand plans were in the works - a ballroom! A bowling alley! An indoor swimming pool! - Saunders, unfortunately, lost his fortune in a rabid battle with the New York Stock Exchange. The house was given to his creditors.
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The city of Memphis used $150,000 to landscape the grounds and complete the building, decking it out in an enormous amount of creamy marble. In March, 1930, the space opened as the Memphis Museum of Natural History and Industrial Arts. It was renamed the Memphis Pink Palace Museum in 1967.
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The Pink Palace Family of Museums now boasts, "Lively Learning For All!", and hosts out-of-towners and locals for fascinating historical exhibits that tell the story of the great city of Memphis.
Clarence Saunders never got to spend a single night in this majestic house, but we're thankful for such a gorgeous museum. The Pink Palace is undergoing an expansion project currently and will reopen to the public in December. We can't wait!
You also may not know about this beautiful town on the eastern side of Tennessee – it’s pretty gorgeous!
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