Tupelo, up in the north east of Mississippi, has the misfortune to be be famous really for only one thing. On January 8, 1935 a boy called Elvis Aaron Presley was born in a two room shotgun house in the eastern suburbs of the city. He went on to become the King of Rock and Roll after the family moved to Tennessee. Tupelo started before the Civil War as a settlement called Gum Pond, named after the Tupelo Gum Trees that grew in the vicinity. A Civil War battle to the west of the town in 1864 was named the Battle of Tupelo. After the war the town’s railroad links generated growth and the town changed its name to Tupelo.
Elvis Presley's childhood church, Elvis Presley Birthplace
After leaving the house that Vernon built, the Presleys moved several times, but there were two constants in Elvis’ life, his close knit family and the Assembly of God Church that the family attended. As part of the congregation he learned the Southern Gospel music that became the foundation of his later music. This is the actual church that he attended, which has been moved to the Birthplace site. Although the church looks as it did in his day, if Elvis were still alive he would be surprised by the huge screens that descend from the ceiling for a multimedia presentation showing the type of service that took place in Assembly of God Pentecostal curches in the 1940s. Click Tab 2 to see the interior of the church.
1939 Plymouth similar to car used by Presleys, Elvis Presley Birthplace
In November 1948 the family suddenly left Tupelo and moved to Memphis, Tennessee. The official reason for this sudden move was that the family wanted a better life, but there are rumours that Vernon had become involved in distributing moonshine and feared that the authorities were on his trail. In 1953 Elvis made his first record with Sun Records in Memphis and he then went on to become the King of Rock and Roll. The Presley family drove to Memphis in a 1939 green Plymouth, and an identical model is on show at the birthplace.
Elvis Presley Birthplace
Vernon Elvis Presley, with help from his father and brother, built a two room shotgun house in 1934 in preparation his wife Gladys Love Presley giving birth. Twins arrived on January 8, 1935 but the first, Jesse Garon, was stillborn. Fortunately the second twin, Elvis Aaron, was healthy. He was born during the great depression, and Vernon had great difficulty finding work. In 1938 he was imprisoned for 8 months for altering a cheque (check) so Gladys and Elvis had to give up the house and move in with Vernon’s parents next door. This house has been preserved as part of the Elvis Presley Birthplace. Although it is identical to the house that Vernon built, it is not completely certain that it is the actual house where Elvis was born. Click Tab 2 to see the kitchen of the house.
Tupelo
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Tupelo National Battlefield
Major General William T. Sherman began his ‘March to the Sea’ in 1864, aiming to split the south in two and capture Atlanta. Sherman was dependent upon the railroad to provide supplies to his Union troops, and he feared that Confederate cavalry troops commanded by Major. General. Nathan Bedford could cut his supply line. Sherman sent Brigadier Geneneral Samuel Sturgis with 8,100 troops to keep the Confederate cavalry bottled up in Mississippi, but Sturgis lost the Battle of Brices Cross Roads and retreated to Memphis. The next month, Union forces under Major General Andrew J. Smith surprised the Confererates at the Battle of Tupelo and ensured that Sherman’s supply line could not be threatened.
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