International Port of Memphis

The port's origins date to the transportation booms of the two world wars, when the Memphis cobblestone riverfront could not meet demand. In 1946 Memphis and Shelby County officials chose President's Island, once the largest island on the Mississippi River at 7,500 acres, for a new industrial area. With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a closure dam was built and the Tennessee Harbor project used 55 million cubic tons of fill to turn 1,000 acres of the island into a flood-free industrial park with an eight-mile-long still water harbor, completed in 1951 at a cost of $51 million.

President's Island hosts 95% of the industries within the port's jurisdiction. A December 2022 study commissioned by the Memphis Shelby County Port Commission put the port's total annual economic impact at $6.25 billion, with 5,361 direct and 8,494 indirect jobs.