Elvis was born in Tupelo, in Mississippi. It has a population of nearly 31,000, a land area of 132.456 square kilometers, and is 160 miles away from the state’s capital. It has become renown as the birthplace of the world’s King of Rock and Roll: Elvis Presley.
The association with Elvis has brought honor and prestige to this once dirt-poor and humble town.
Originally known as Gum Pond due to its abundant growth of tupelo trees locally known as sweetgum, Tupelo has witnessed the birth and early childhood years of one of the world’s famous celebrity icons.
Elvis Presley’s birthplace saw the development of this young boy, who at an early age had already developed his talent in singing as he performed his first public performance in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. He sang Red Foleys Old Shep.
During Elvis time, Tupelo was then considered as one of the most poverty-stricken places in Mississippi. Although Elvis’s family lived above the poverty line, still, his family experienced the hardships.
It was during those times that Tupelo’s unemployment rate was 25% and the average annual rate of wages was just $1,368.
Today, Tupelo is now famous as it is recognized as Elvis Presley’s birthplace. Tupelo is no longer a symbol of poverty during the era of the Great Depression but is now an epitome of Elvis’s childhood years.
Hence, various infrastructures were built in Elvis Presley’s birthplace which demonstrated the life and history of the King of Rock and Roll. In Tupelo, you can see the 350-pound statue of Elvis Presley at 13. Made of bronze, this statue stands majestically.
Experts say that the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation, spearheaded by Henry Dodge, decided to reflect a 13-year old Elvis Presley because this was the age when he left Tupelo and went to Memphis. As they say, Elvis’s most precious 13 years of life had been built in Tupelo and nobody can take that fact away from them.
You can also find a remarkable museum which features a large collection of Elvis’s memorabilia. This museum tells more on Elvis’s 13 years in his birthplace.
Indeed, with a history as rich and as famous as that of Elvis Presley’s, Tupelo will forever be Elvis Presley’s birthplace; a fact that nobody can erase.
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