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Headquarters for the Pink Palace Family
of Museums, the Pink Palace was originally designed to be the dream home
of wealthy entrepreneur Clarence Saunders. The museum derives its name
from the mansion's ornate pink Georgian marble facade. Saunders, an
entrepreneur and founder of Piggly Wiggly, began building the house in the
early 1920's, but due to a legal dispute with the New York Exchange, he
had to declare bankruptcy and the unfinished building was eventually given
to the city in the late 1920s for use as a museum.  This private home
became the 30,000 square ft. Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium.
The Pink Palace Museum is one of the largest facilities of its
kind in the Southeast. You can walk through a replica of the first
self-service grocery store in the country, Clarence Saunders' Piggly
Wiggly. Explore the cultural and natural history of the Mid-South
through exciting exhibits, dioramas and audio-visuals. Trace Memphis'
development from the time of Spanish explorers through the Civil War and
the yellow fever epidemics. Learn from the award-winning medical exhibit
how health care grew to be Memphis' largest industry.
Each year
over 240,000 people visit the Memphis Pink Palace Museum. 1996 brought a
surge of excitement when the beautiful Pink Palace Mansion revealed an all
new permanent exhibit on life in early 20th century Memphis.
VIEW the
splendor of some of the exhibits online.
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Memphis Tour
