W.C. Handy — musician, composer, and the man who first wrote the blues down in sheet music form — lived in this small shotgun house on Beale Street during the years he spent in Memphis in the early twentieth century. The house has been preserved and moved from its original location to the W.C. Handy Park on Beale Street, where it functions as a small museum. Inside are personal belongings, photographs, instruments, and documents relating to Handy's life and the composition of his most famous works, including "Memphis Blues" (1912) and "St. Louis Blues" (1914).
The museum is deliberately small and intimate — this was a working man's house, not a mansion, and the scale communicates something important about the circumstances in which the music was made. Combined with a visit to the Handy statue in the park outside and an evening on Beale Street hearing the music his notations helped spread, it makes for a coherent and moving experience. Hours are limited; check before visiting.