Memphis, Tennessee: Nation's Cleanest City

Riverside Drive before picture courtesy http://memphiscitybeautiful.org/about-us/history.

The City Beautiful Commission, established in 1930, championed the cause of cleaning up Memphis, Tennessee.  In 1935, at the cost of nearly $1 million, the Riverside Drive Project got underway.  The City Beautiful Commission landscaped the bluffs with crepe myrtle, redbuds, magnolias, dogwoods and Paul Scarlet roses.  Memphis gained the title of the cleanest city in Tennessee from 1940 to 1946.  It also received the title of the nation's cleanest city from 1948 to 1951.

Riverside Drive after picture courtesy http://memphiscitybeautiful.org/about-us/history.