Today
Cordova grew from a quiet country farm hamlet with a population of 150 people in 1912 to one of the fastest growing neighborhoods of Memphis. Retail growth exploded in the late 1990s thanks to the Wolfchase Galleria shopping mall, which at the time was the largest retail center in Shelby County outside of Memphis city limits. Today the majority of the growth is along Houston Levee Road and Macon Road as well as major retail and commercial centers on Germantown Parkway. There are now over 1,226 businesses with over 19,400 employees working in Cordova.
Cordova continues to preserve its past with a historic downtown which each year celebrates with an annual crafts fair and having its own Fourth of July parade. The community is home of the Hope Presbyterian Church, a megachurch with average weekly attendance of over 7,500. In 2005 the church scaled down plans for a $50 million auditorium with a bell tower that would reach to 180 feet after protests from local homeowners, but opened a smaller facility with 5,000 seats in December 2007.
In 2010, the area's Heartsong Church gained national attention for opening its doors and welcoming the local Muslim population. The worshipers used this space during the month of Ramadan while the Cordova Islamic Center was being built. There were no protests, contrasting with other areas at the time including the proposed Islamic center in New York, and Mosque in Murfreesboro,Tennessee.
Cordova is home to a branch of the Memphis Public Library system. The Cordova Branch Library started in one room at the old train depot on Macon Road before moving to the 1913 community center on Sanga Road. In 2004, the branch moved to its own building on Trinity Road.
Bert Ferguson Community Center, located on Trinity Road, is the current site of community athletic fields and rooms, walking trail, banquet hall, and educational development.
Read more about this topic: Cordova, Tennessee
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