3rd Ave. and Madison. Memphis, TN
Circa 1881. French Renaissance style
Napoleon Hill (1830-1909) and Mary Morton Wood Hill (1835-1922) lived at the corner of 3rd Ave and Madison. Hill was successful in business and called “The Merchant Prince of Memphis.” His parents were Dr. Duncan Hill, a physician, and Olivia Hill. They owned Longwood plantation in Marshall Co., MS.
He inherited money from his family, went to the 1849 California Gold Rush and returned to Memphis in 1857 with a stake of $10, 000. He opened a cotton brokerage house and a wholesale grocery business and became Very wealthy. After the Civil War, he became one of the most prominent businessmen in Memphis with Hill, Fontaine & Comp - cotton and wholesale groceries. His investments included banks, real estate, and industrial development. He helped organize the Memphis Cotton Exchange in 1873 and served as president from 1881-83. In 1885, he founded a street car line. And he was an early investor in the Birmingham, AL steel industry. He was a major investor in Memphis’ Union and Planters Bank - now Union Planters. In 1902, he commissioned the Scimitar Building across from his home. It held the Memphis newspaper of the same name which operated until the 1980s (added to the National Register HP in 1983). The building was renovated as the Hotel Napoleon which opened in 2016.
After Napoleon’s death, Napoleon and Mary’s daughter Olivia Polk Hill Grosvenor got the mansion (1861-1934). She was married to Charles Niles Grosvenor (1850-1931. In 1919, a newly-reorganized University Club - Memphis was chartered and leased the Hill Mansion as its home.
About five years later, in 1924, the Memphis University Club purchased Clarence Saunders’ home and moved. Because of commercial development in the area, Olivia supervised the demolition of the mansion in 1930. The Sterick Building was erected on the site, and evidently, Olivia kept the property ownership because she remained listed as “Owner of Grounds” of the Sterick Building.
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