Tupelo, Mississippi – Birthplace of the King of Rock and Roll

Last Updated on January 29, 2024 by Ranchers

Tupelo is a sleepy little town of about 40,000 citizens and serves as the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi. Despite its small size, the National Civic League has honored Tupelo the All-American City award five times. It was also the winner of the Great American Main Street Award in 2020.

Curiously, it also boasts a 10,000 seat arena that has been home to a variety of semi-pro and off brand teams such as the Mississippi Hound Dogs of the Ultimate Indoor Football League.
Tupelo was also visited by President Franklin in Roosevelt in 1935 to celebrate Tupelo as the first city to receive electricity from the newly created Tennessee Valley Authority during the Great Depression.
And one last factoid about Tupelo – it is the site of the last bank robbery by Machine Gun Kelly on November 30, 1932, at the Citizen’s State Bank. The gang got away with just shy of a million dollars in today’s money.
Sadly, Tupelo has nothing to do with honey. Tupelo honey is actually only produced in the Apalachicola River basin in the Florida panhandle and the Okeefenokee Wildlife Refuge along the Georgia-Florida border. In fact, until Van Morrison came along, Tupelo honey was commonly called swamp honey or southern gold and only considered a regional delicacy. Thank you, Van.
While those things may want to make you settle in Tupelo, there is one thing above all others that brings the tourists to Tupelo. And that is, of course, because it is the birthplace of one Elvis Aaron Presley.

If all things Elvis isn’t your cup of tea, head north out of town and stop into the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor’s Center. It has a wealth of information for things to do and see along the 444 mile scenic parkway running through parts of three states.

Self Guided Elvis Bicycle Tour

For our day in Tupelo, we chose the self-guided bicycle tour covering twelve significant sites from Elvis’ childhood. As a bonus, it also heavily overlaps with the Guitar Trail. Some cities have elephants or cows or cowboy boots, Tupelo quite naturally has guitars. Entertaining though they may be, they are placed in front of businesses who have sponsored a guitar, not necessarily related to Elvis in any way. Thus, the bicycle tour.

We had an absolutely great day although it was a bit hot by the end of our tour. Common sense suggests getting an early start to any sightseeing you want undertake in the heat and humidity of the Southern summer, but everyone is prone to the occasional rookie mistake. The ride is a roughly six and a half mile loop with most stops typically under a half mile between points. We rode on a combination of sidewalk, street, and bike lane but there was never a point we felt unsafe or challenged by car traffic.

Tupelo Visitor’s Center

We started at the Tupelo Visitors Center at 399 E Main Street. Unfortunately the visitors center is closed on Sundays, but at least we had plenty of parking. The Visitors Center sits at the former site of the Shakerag neighborhood, an historically black community that introduced Elvis to sounds of gospel and blues that would shape his musical style.

Former Site of the Tupelo Fairgrounds

Now known as the Fairpark District, our bicycle nearly ended as suddenly as it began. There was a large craft fair with live music just getting into full swing when we pulled up to see the statue of Elvis’ homecoming at the fairgrounds. With Angela’s predilection for art and my equally vigorous support of the food truck, our plans were very nearly derailed, but we persevered and soldiered on.
The statue was placed in 2012 to commemorate Elvis’ homecoming in 1956. Only 2 years into his professional music career and before his film career had even begun, Elvis returned to the Tupelo Fairgrounds for a concert in his hometown. He was greeted with a homecoming parade and given the key to the city by the Governor of Mississippi.

Tupelo Hardware Company

This is where fate intervened to begin the legend of Elvis. During a day out with mom in 1946, a serendipitous compromise was achieved. Elvis wanted a rifle, mom wanted him to get a bicycle. The compromise was a guitar and the rest, as they say, was history.

Lee County Court

The building was built in the Classical Revival style in 1905. It probably would have remained just another courthouse if not for for the perplexing multi-use function of the court doubling as the broadcast radio station WELO. In 1946, Mississippi Slim, host of weekly musical jamborees broadcast by WELO invited Elvis to be a guest on the station. Becoming as famous as Mississippi slim was a dream of young Elvis and playing on the radio live for the very first time for him was surely a dream come true. Hard to say that performance catapulted the building onto to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, but it’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Lee County Library

First off, whether Elvis ever came here or not, the building is worth a visit. We actually pedaled around the building twice before determining which entrance was actually the front door. It has been rebuilt since Elvis was a regular patron, but it is an excellent library on its own.
In 1948 at the age of 13, Elvis visited the library with his mother and got his first library card. The card is still on display behind glass.

Milam Junior High

Elvis attended Milam Junior High for 7th and part of the 8th grade. When he and his family moved to Memphis he sang Ole Shep as a farewell performance for teachers and classmates alike. Fire, tornadoes, and population changes have altered the student body several times since Elvis attended, but it is still in use today as a middle school. It has some classic art deco stylings that do not appear to be part of the original construction but definitely add some character.

Former Site of Mayhorn Grocery

Unfortunately, this was one of those use your imagination sites. I think it was useful to get a feel for the size of Elvis’ world, but pedaling to a plaque didn’t really bring me back in time like the other sites have. In 1947 Mayhorn Grocery was a social hub where people would gather and play music on the front porch. Young Elvis could walk to the store from his home and listen to the blues or cross the street to to the Spring Hill Missionary Baptist Church to hear to gospel music.

Johnnie’s Drive-In

It’s food at a greasy spoon, so naturally this was one of the highlights of our bicycle tour. I have to believe it looks exactly the same today as it did when Elvis was carousing as a teen. There is even a rusty old truck that probably hasn’t moved since before Elvis had his last shake. A half dozen semi-covered spots line the side of the building for food delivery, but we opted to eat inside. Although the dough burger was highly recommended, we chose the standard cheeseburgers instead. A dough burger (because we are bougie Yanks, we had to ask) is holdover from WWII when meat was scarce. They mix dough into the patty to stretch the serving and is apparently an acquired taste. The burgers are small, so you would not appear gluttonous if you ordered one of each, or you could get an XL all-meat like we did. A little thin smashburger style but absolutely delicious. Portion size on the fries and tots were more than enough and the shake was perfect. We decided to skip dessert after the shake, but I did have to ask my stupid Yank question to further stretch the divide between North and South. If I had thought about it for a minute, especially because it was in the dessert section, I probably could have worked it out for myself, but when the waitress came by and asked if we would like anything else, I just blurted out “What are a funnel cake fries?” She looked at me like the Yankee I am and said in her most condescendingly polite tone for a teenager “Uh, it’s funnel cake, in the shape of a fry”, and walked away without waiting for a response. Humiliation complete.
If you’re lucky, you can even sit in Elvis’ booth, just to really soak in the character. There is Elvis and 50’s paraphernalia adorning most of the free wall space and will occupy your time while waiting for your food.
Just make sure you bring cash, no debit or credit cards here.

Lawhon Elementary School

After the joy of Johnnie’s, we elected to skip this little side detour and head straight for Elvis’ birthplace and Museum. Lawhon is the site where Elvis first attended elementary school.

Former Site of Assembly of God Church

Much like Mayhorn Grocery, this is a a former site with only a plaque. However, the church has been recreated at the Museum. Elvis and his family attended the church in 1947 where Reverend Frank Smith helped Elvis learn guitar.

Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum

Easily the most significant stop on the bike tour, even more important the Johnnie’s, is the modest, two-room house where the King of Rock & Roll was born on January 8, 1935. Bear in mind that while the home is authentic, the location is not. In fact, due to the financial turbulence of the Great Depression, the Presley family was forced to move several times throughout Tupelo during Elvis’ youth. However, the home remains the biggest landmark of Tupelo’s modern history even it it has been relocated from its original site. The museum offers three different tickets, covering entry to the home, the church, and the museum or any combination of the three. Full disclosure, we had no idea there was a pricing plan and visited the museum and church without paying. The house clearly had a sign on it requiring paid entry so we assumed it was the only site requiring a ticket. Bad on us.

The house, built by his father with $180, still draws over 50,000 visitors each year from across the world nearly fifty years after his passing. The home is a two room shotgun shack, and while we are proponents of supporting the local economy, we did not think it was worth the price of admission to walk though a 10×20 space in less than five minutes. Hard to imagine growing up this impoverished to only embark on a meteoric rise to become the world’s most popular entertainer. Of course, Abe Lincoln grew up in a similar home and he did OK too.

The 15-acre park includes the home, the relocated Assembly of God Church, a chapel, several statues, including the popular photo-op “Elvis at 13”, and a great amphitheater overlooking the property. The chapel was paid for entirely through fan donations and has a gorgeous stained glass window covering one entire wall. There are also some picnic spots available on the grounds.

The museum does close at a relatively early 4PM every day so I suggest getting there well before 2PM to fully enjoy the museum and outdoor space.

Mud Creek Swimming Hole

By the time we finished up our tour of the museum and grounds, the swimming hole was a bridge too far. It lies a short way down the street at the back of what is currently a softball field complex. Interesting, but since we did not have bathing suits, not interesting enough to add the extra distance.
Legend has it, Elvis and his friends would sneak to the swimming hole so their mothers wouldn’t know they were swimming unsupervised.

Natchez Trace Parkway Visitors Center and Tupelo Battlefield

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile scenic drive through parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. It roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace,” a historic travel corridor probably begun as a game trail, evolving over time to human use. American Indians, settlers, slave traders, and soldiers have all used the trail over the past several thousand years. Today, it’s a slow, scenic drive with many opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, camping, and the discovery of history along the Parkway. For the truly dedicated, the entire Parkway is also a designated bike trail.
The visitor center and headquarters for the Parkway is located on the outskirts of Tupelo about five minutes north of the cloverleaf of I22 and Rte. 45. While we there, we had the happy coincidence of arriving during a performance of the world renowned, critically acclaimed, North Mississippi Dulcimer Association. Well, maybe none of those things, but VERY entertaining none the less. They were also incredibly gracious and willing to answer every question we had. The NMDA are regulars at the Visitors Center.

The Appalachian dulcimer is fairly unique to the Appalachian valley, invented around 1800 by Scotch-Irish immigrants even though there is no corollary instrument tied to the native lands either of these groups. It is essentially a lap violin and doesn’t require reading music to play, making it ideal for beginners.
The Natchez Trace scenic trail is broken into five sections that follow along the Parkway. From the Visitors center is a six mile stretch of the scenic trail known as the Blackland Prairie section. It is primarily a flat trail through mostly woods with some portions requiring travel on the Parkway. Hiking the full section will also take you to the Chickasaw Village. There are no structures, but there is plenty of signage to learn about Chickasaw culture, native plants, and local birds.

If you are a hardcore civil war buff, the Tupelo National Battlefield is a five minute drive. It is a one acre plot surrounded by the local community so it is really difficult to put yourself into the battle. There are also very few markers to describe the events of the battle. Like I said, hard core civil war buffs. The battle is of historical significance because General Sherman specifically used troops here to occupy the superior cavalry forces of Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The plan succeeded and it allowed the Federals to keep supply lines open while Sherman continued his infamous “March to the Sea”.