Plaque honoring Aretha Franklin placed at former home

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, has dedicated a plaque marking the childhood home of soul singer Aretha Franklin.

Vera House, the owner of the home where Aretha Franklin once lived as a young child, stands next to the building on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017 in Memphis, Tenn. A plaque marking the childhood home of soul singer Aretha Franklin was unveiled Wednesday. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

Mayor Jim Strickland unveiled the plaque at the small wooden home on Wednesday morning.

Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” was born in the house in 1942. Her family moved away from Memphis about two years later.

The dilapidated house has been vacant for years, and there has been no historical marker indicating its significance until now.

Lawyers, community leaders and Shelby County Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter have been trying to find ways to preserve the house, which sits empty with its windows boarded up. Potter had ordered the house demolished, but he put that order on hold last year after volunteers stabilized the crumbling structure.