MID-SOUTH MEMORIES
25 years ago — 1993
VANCE, Ala. — Mercedes-Benz plans to put its first production plant in the United States in this tiny town between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. The German luxury automaker signaled Wednesday that it will come to a rural, wooded site near here to build a $300 million plant where 1,500 workers will make a new sport utility vehicle.
50 years ago — 1968
Central Towers is full but Highland Towers is empty as the demand for private dormitories at Memphis State University continues to lag far behind original expectations. “We definitely overestimated the speed with which the market would develop, but we’re not alarmed because of the growth prospects for Memphis State,” said Robert Elder, executive vice president of Allen and O’Hara Inc., which built and owns the towers. MSU has 16,000 students this year. By 1980, enrollment is expected to pass 30,000. Occupancy at the towers has increased from 948 students last year to 1,006. Last year Central was used only for the overflow from Highland. This year, Highland will be used only for university-sponsored meetings.
75 years ago — 1943
It’s molasses time at the Shelby County Penal Farm and a 117-acre crop of sorghum is being harvested. The sorghum is cut in the fields, piled in mule-drawn wagons, and hauled to motor-driven rollers which extract the juice from the cane. The juice is fed into a vat by pipe where it is heated and impurities skimmed from the top. When the process is completed, the Penal Farm will have 10,000 gallons of molasses to serve for the next year.
100 years ago — 1918
The West Tennessee Normal School in Memphis is all abustle in getting ready to accommodate the 800 young men and women who will start classes here Tuesday.
125 years ago — 1893
The interior appointments of the new fire house at Front and Union are finally completed and they are without parallel in the country. In fact, it is about the only public building the city can point to with pride. The steam engine, chemical engine and the fire engine patrol are kept under blankets on the first floor. Nearby are the buggies of the chief and the assistant chief and the stalls for the horses which draw all these vehicles.