Q 01/05

Memphis sits on the banks of which great waterway?

A) Ohio River

B) Tennessee River

C) Cumberland River

D) Mississippi River

Answer · why

D) Mississippi River

The Mississippi River; Memphis sits on the fourth Chickasaw Bluff above its floodplain and is the largest city proper anywhere along the river.

Q 02/05

Memphis was named after an ancient capital of which country?

A) Persia

B) Greece

C) Egypt

D) Turkey

Answer · why

C) Egypt

The founders chose the name in 1819 after Memphis, the ancient Egyptian capital on the Nile, another great city on a great river.

Q 03/05

Which future US president was one of the three founders of Memphis in 1819?

A) Andrew Jackson

B) James K. Polk

C) William Henry Harrison

D) Zachary Taylor

Answer · why

A) Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson founded Memphis in May 1819 with partners John Overton and James Winchester, months after the 1818 Chickasaw Cession opened West Tennes...

Q 04/05

Which Spanish conquistador is credited with the first European exploration of the Memphis area in 1541?

A) Francisco Coronado

B) Cabeza de Vaca

C) Ponce de León

D) Hernando de Soto

Answer · why

D) Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto's expedition reached the Mississippi near present-day Memphis in May 1541, the first Europeans known to do so; the Interstate 40 brid...

Q 05/05

Memphis is the seat of which Tennessee county?

A) Davidson

B) Shelby

C) Knox

D) Hamilton

Answer · why

B) Shelby

Shelby County, Tennessee's most populous county, has its seat in Memphis; the city itself is the state's second-largest after Nashville.