Skip to content
BusinessesGrow
National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN

Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

MuseumsIconicHistory BuffRainy-Day Pick

National Civil Rights Museum

450 Mulberry St · Memphis, TN

Why you should go…

The museum is built around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on the balcony outside Room 306 on April 4, 1968. Galleries begin with slavery and follow the movement through the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Freedom Rides, with a boycott-era bus, a recreation of a burned Freedom Riders Greyhound and a garbage truck from the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike. Across the street, the renovated Legacy Building reopened in May 2026 and carries the story from 1968 to today.

  • #civil rights history
  • #history museum
  • #lorraine motel
  • #martin luther king jr

Good to know

General museums guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Check the special exhibition separately

    Touring shows usually carry their own ticket and their own opening hours, listed apart from general admission.

  • Look for the free window

    Many museums run community days, member evenings, or discounted late openings. It is worth a look before you pay full price.

  • Travel light through the door

    Large bags and backpacks often have to go to a coat check, and lines for it move slowly at opening.

  • Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons

    School groups clear out by early afternoon midweek, while weekends stay busy from late morning on.

What's around here?

The closest stops to National Civil Rights Museum, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Nightlife
    Iconic

    Beale Street

    Free

    Walk a historic downtown Memphis street lined with blues clubs, bars, restaurants and shops with live music.

    0.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Nightlife

  • Stay
    Iconic

    The Peabody Memphis

    $50+

    Stay at a 1925 grand hotel or stop in the lobby to watch five mallard ducks march to the fountain.

    0.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Stay

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Sun Studio

    Under $25

    Tour the small Memphis studio where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis cut records in the 1950s.

    1.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Shopping
    Quirky Fun

    Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid

    Free

    Shop outdoor gear inside a 32-story pyramid with an indoor cypress swamp, aquariums and an elevator ride to a glass-floored deck.

    1.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Stax Museum of American Soul Music

    Under $25

    Explore soul music history on the site of Stax Records, with Isaac Hayes's gold-trimmed Cadillac and a recreated Studio A.

    2.0 mi awayMore like this

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    Memphis Zoo

    $25–$50

    See polar bears, hippos, Komodo dragons and thousands of other animals across themed zones at a zoo in Midtown Memphis.

    3.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions