Shelby County Apartments for Rent

Shelby County is Tennessee’s largest county, both in population and in land area. Its population, according to the 2010 census, is 927,644. The county seat is Memphis.

Shelby County has a total area of 784 square miles; 755 square miles of that is land, and 29 square miles is water. Bodies of water in Shelby County include the Loosahatchie River, Nonconnah Creek, Wolf River and the Mississippi River. The lowest point in the state of Tennessee is located on the Mississippi River, just outside the Memphis city limits, where it flows out of Tennessee and into Mississippi.

Shelby County boasts many great parks and county-managed recreation facilities.

Bordering on the mighty Mississippi River, 13 miles north of Memphis, two-thirds of the 13,467-acre Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park are bottomland hardwood forests of large oak, cypress and tupelo. The park contains two lakes, and miles of hiking trails as well as one of the largest disc-golf courses in the Southeast. There is a boat ramp on the river, maintained by the park service. The park is a habitat for deer, turkey, beaver, fox, otter and bobcat, and a favorite location for bird watchers.

Shelby Farms Park is one of the largest urban parks of its kind. Sprawling over 4,500 acres, the park includes dozens of lakes and fishing ponds; rolling hills, meadows and forests; horse stables and paddle boats. The Wolf River forms the southern border of the Park, and the beautiful Wolf River Pedestrian Bridge links neighborhoods to Shelby Farms Park. The Shelby Farms Greenline, a seven-mile urban trail running from Shelby Farms Park to Midtown Memphis, provides a connection for dozens of neighborhoods to their big urban park.

Covering 1,138 acres, T.O. Fuller State Park and its abundance of flora and fauna is a great place to view area wildlife, bird watch, camp or hike. This park made history twice; first, it was the first state park east of the Mississippi River open to African Americans (and only the second in the nation). Second, during excavation for a proposed swimming pool in 1940, workers at the T.O. Fuller State Park unearthed evidence of a prehistoric Chucalissa Indian Village. Today the site includes a village, preserved archaeological excavations, and a modern museum.