Among its guests were Presidents Andrew Johnson and William McKinley and Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

[3] The current Peabody Hotel building, on Union Avenue, is an Italian Renaissance structure designed by noted Chicago architect Walter W.

An Alabama investment group purchased the hotel in 1974 and reopened it briefly under its original name, but they declared bankruptcy on April 1, 1975, and it closed again.

[3] Isadore Edwin Hanover purchased the hotel from the county on July 31, 1975, for $400,000 and sold it to his son-in-law, Jack A. Belz, for the same amount.

The grand reopening in 1981 is widely considered a major catalyst for the Memphis downtown area's ongoing revitalization.

[7] PHG also operated properties for a number of years under the Hilton name in Greenville, South Carolina and Little Rock, Arkansas.

The ducks, accompanied by the King Cotton March by John Philip Sousa, then proceed across a red carpet to the hotel fountain, made of a solid block of Italian travertine marble.

Celebrities have also assumed the role of Honorary Duckmaster from time to time, including Zane Lamprey, Paula Deen, Joan Collins, Molly Ringwald, Kevin Bacon, Gerry Tidd Peter Frampton, Emeril Lagasse, Patrick Swayze, Queen Noor of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Fry, Rudolph van Veen, Gayle King, Roy Williams,[10] Bill Pierce, Shannon The Dude, Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Ryan Lemond,[9] and by Rhett and Link of Good Mythical Morning.

The 24 by 12 foot enclosure features granite flooring, ceiling fans, a scale replica of the hotel, a fountain decorated with a pair of bronze ducks, and a large viewing window for guests to see them in their new home.

He notably dedicated the song "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You" to the Memphis Police Department as a result of his arrest the night before for sitting next to his manager's white wife on a charter bus.

[14] The studios of radio station WREC and later its television spinoff WREC-TV (now WREG) were for many years located in the hotel basement.

[15] During the Big Band era, the Skyway was a popular night-spot, and the ballroom was one of only a handful of sites in America from which the CBS radio network would broadcast live weekly programs.