It was founded in 1874 as a result of the growing cotton market in Memphis, where trade was strong after the American Civil War.

The exchange developed as a source of information about world markets, and cotton merchants found they had to join as members in order to compete.

[4] 1876-1879 J. T. Pettit 1879-1881 D. P. Hadden 1881-1883 Napoleon Hill 1883-1885 C. P. Hunt 1885-1887 W. J. Crawford 1887-1889 L. B. Suggs 1889-1891 Emmett L. Woodson 1891-1893 H. M. Neely 1893-1895 E. B. Carroll 1895-1897 I. McD.

B. Beecher 1916-1917 George W. Fisher 1917-1918 D. S. Weaver 1918-1919 W. L. McKee 1919-1920 I. H. Barnwell 1910-1921 J. L. Cooke 1921-1922 W. J. Britton 1922-1923 J. P. Norfleet 1923-1924 Ben G. Humphreys 1924-1925 H. G. Thompson 1925-1926 S. B. Wilson 1926-1927 R. B. Barton 1927-1928 J. C. Lutz 1928-1929 W. W. Trigg 1929-1930 F. B. Smithwick 1930-1931 I. H. Barnwell Jr. 1932-1933 F. G. Barton 1933-1934 Henry H. Haizlip 1934-1935 Frank T. Donelson 1935-1936 Caffey Robertson 1936-1937 George J. Eckert 1937-1938 C. L. Andrews 1938-1939 W. A. Wooten 1939-1940 Fred W. Lucas 1940-1941 C. W. Hussey 1941-1942 Russell C. Gregg 1942-1943 John A. DuPre 1943-1944 S. Y.

White 1948-1949 Mather T. Richards 1949-1950 A. M. Crawford 1950-1951 John S. Dillard 1951-1952 C. L. Patton 1952-1953 H. R. Altick 1953-1954 Parks Kinnett 1954-1955 Lewis K. McKee 1955-1956 J. W. Johnson 1956-1957 J. W. Ramsey 1957-1958 William Dunavant 1958-1959 F. M. Crump 1959-1960 J. T. Murff 1960-1961 Berry B. Brooks 1961-1962 Hugh Francis 1962-1963 William W. Deupree 1963-1964 Eric D. Hirsch 1964-1965 H. D. Taylor 1965-1966 Robert J. Hussey 1966-1967 Hugh Francis 1967-1968 R. H. Allen Jr. 1968-1969 Frank G Barton Jr. 1969-1970 Walter Walsh 1970-1971 Berry B. Brooks 1971-1972 R. G. Gardner 1972-1973 Earl Crocker 1973-1974 Molloy H. Miller 1974-1975 Frank M. Weathersby