1962 & 2015 US Customs House Multi-War Memorial -- Memphis TN
N 35° 08.738 W 090° 03.258
15S E 768363 N 3893166
Two photos nearly 50 years apart show the dramatic change to the US customs house multi-war Memorial in Memphis, Tennessee.
Waymark Code: WMNM9M
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 04/02/2015
Views: 5
A striking multi-war memorial erected in front of the US Customs House in 1962 lost its sculptural fountain centerpiece in 1970, but survives today as a simple series of engraved panels.
In the course of researching this waymark, Blasterz learned that in 1962 a strikingly modern and sculptural War Memorial to those who fought in World War II and the Korean War debuted in front of the U.S. Customs House in downtown Memphis. The Memorial came complete with a sculptural bronze fountain shaped like a trough that was angled into a V-shape, allowing water to spill out in the center.
For some unknown reason, a few years later that metal fountain was removed. (
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Today the war memorial exists only as a set of engraved panels stretching across the former fountain pool, now a planter.
The first photo is a 1962 Memphis postcard showing the new WWII and Korean War Memorial in front of the US Customs House, Post Office, and Federal Courthouse.
The 2015 photo, taken by Mama Blaster, shows the same building after it has been vacated by the Federal Government and renovated into the new home for the University of Memphis Law School.