The two-room house where Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi (Photo by
Trina Yannicos)
August 16 marks the 32nd anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. In death, Elvis seems to be more popular than ever with millions of fans visiting Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee every year. Now those fans are also making the trip 90 minutes southeast of Memphis to visit the original two-room shack where Elvis Presley was born.
Taking a cue from Graceland, the restored shack is just one part of the attraction at the Elvis Presley Birthplace complex at 306 Elvis Presley Drive in Tupelo, Mississippi. The original house was designated a state historical site back in 1978, and since then the Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel was built on the grounds in 1979, and an Elvis Presley Museum was added in 1992.
While the two-room house only takes a few minutes to walk through (it's literally only two rooms!), visitors can expect to spend several hours exploring the museum and the beautiful grounds at the Birthplace complex. In the Assembly of God church, visitors can experience an old-time worship service similar to those that Elvis Presley attended as a young boy.
(See a photo slideshow from the Elvis Presley Birthplace complex below)
Elvis Presley's father, Vernon, built this two-room house himself in 1934 using lumber he purchased with money borrowed from his employer, Orville Bean. The house contained no bathroom or running water. Inside the house at 4 am on January 8, 1935, Gladys Presley gave birth to a stillborn baby boy named Jesse. A half hour later, Elvis Presley was born alive and healthy.
Elvis and his parents lived here for almost three years until Vernon got arrested for altering the amount on a check. He was sentenced to three years in jail. Orville Bean, who still held a note on the house, forced the Presleys into foreclosure leaving Gladys and her son, Elvis, to find another place to live.
In 1977, the original house was restored and decorated to replicate the 1930s lifestyle that the Presleys experienced while living in the house. At the entrance to the grounds, a 1939 green Plymouth, similar to the car that the Presleys used to move from Tupelo to Memphis in 1948, is on display.
A memorial garden was built on the grounds and features a statue of Elvis as a young boy, and the "walk of life" -- 42 granite blocks which represent each year of Presley's life. For fans seeing the ever-so-humble beginnings of the King of Rock and Roll, the Elvis Presley Birthplace certainly adds a new dimension to the legacy of Elvis Presley.
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Comments
The annual Elvis Presley Festival in Tupelo in early June is also a great attraction for Elvis fans as it goes from strength to strength.
In a recent Editorial in the local "Daily Journal" newspaper Elvis's importance to the economy of the now famous City has been acknowledged.
Elvis although born in a humble little house certainly grew up in a beautiful location.
I visited Elvis` birthplace in June, it was an amazing experience . I guess I can say I saw the beginning, the middle as in Beale Street and Sun Studios and the end being Graceland. I feel priveliged to have been able to do this. God bless you Elvis 32 years after you left us, although gone in body you will stay in my heart forever.
Growing up poor, and I did and Elvis did, the home was the ONE THING that..."was ours" (it was small, ofter dirty, no inside running water, no inside toilet/bathtub, etc. When you have a house (which I define as as "water, walls, heater, along with nuturing, safe, loving, caring, and loving parents/relatives) it can be made into a home imediately.
When a child is surrounded by LOVE, and is loved, and paricipates in reading the bible and learning the lessons about GOD, then the child has a strong your foundation to succeed. NO place like "Harvard", MIT, or Berkley (Colleges) will ever understand. Nuff said. WWW.ELVISCOLLECTOR.INFO
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