July 27, 2014 Noel Lori-Elizabeth Teel, Dale Tony Vanoy and I visited the Slave Auction Square in Memphis down on North Main Street. Here is some history about it. One of the four squares to have been constructed in Memphis for the exchange and trade of bonded labor, the Auction Square on North Main Street, is also remembered as the first food market in Memphis.
While the name does suggest that this square was the designated venue for slave auctions, the actual auctioning was conducted in either the Market Square or the indoor halls. Today, as one of the final remnants of this long-forgotten era in Memphis' past, the Auction Square still displays the original plaque which commemorates the two kinds of trade that have shaped much of Memphis' current-day economy -- slaves and cotton. In fact, the plantation owners, who played a major role in Memphis' economic boom, are known to have been almost completely dependant on bonded labor, which they purchased in exchange for their cotton at Memphis
Address: On Main Street in front of the MTA Building. It is located in a patch of grass with a historical marker about Fort Adam located with Metal fence around it. There are some lovely Crepe Myrtle trees around it. They need to have a little more signage about it. I know it is a horrible part of our past but it is HISTORY and we should preserve it. read more