The Pinch District took its name in the 1800s from a pejorative term for the emaciated Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine (“pinch gut”). The Pinch was home to the city’s earliest Irish, Italian, Russian, and Greek immigrants, as well as Memphis’ Jewish community through the 1930s. Suburban expansion post-World War II decimated the Pinch’s population, and it has since struggled to maintain stability. There are hopes that the newly repurposed Pyramid, now a Bass Pro Shop flagship store, will anchor new growth in the area.