Until the advent of the computer, the activities associated with that cotton market all took place in the offices in and around Front Street in a neighborhood that came to be known as Cotton Row. Wagon loads—and then truckloads—of cotton samples from the surrounding Delta came to Front Street to be classed and graded, bought and sold, financed and insured, and then shipped to destinations around the world.

This neighborhood, set on the fourth Chickasaw Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, was a place with a language, a landscape and a culture all its own.  For generations, the Memphis Cotton Exchange was its hub.

At the Cotton Museum, we invite you to:

• Explore the floor of the historic Memphis Cotton Exchange, now our main exhibit hall.
  
  
• Revisit the past through documentary films, photographs, artifacts and oral histories.
  
  
• Touch raw cotton in our Sample Room and learn about the lost art of cotton classing.
  
  
• Discover Cotton Row through a self-guided, audio tour of the historic block surrounding the museum.
   
  
• Visit our Hall of Fame, dedicated to regional and industry legends.
  
  
• See the Exploration Hall, our new wing that houses The Changing World of Cotton, a hands-on, interactive exhibit exploring advances in mechanization, biotechnology and environmental sustainability, as well as the evolution of cotton as the most popular, versatile fabric in the world.