ELVIS BIRTHPLACE & TUPELO
HARDWARE STORE
Our Day spent at Tupelo, was absolutely great, this lovely guy picked my sister and I up from the Heartbreak Hotel in the morning and drove for about an hour and half to Tupelo the place where Elvis was born., When he was 13 years old, he and his family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee..
The Elvis Presley Birthplace is designated as a historic landmark in the State of Mississippi.
As we all know, Elvis was born into very humble surrounding, he father Vernon with the help built this house in 1934 with $180 which he borrowed from his boss. It was in this humble two room house jut lit with one bulb in each room, that Elvis was born on January 8, 1935 Elvis was one of twins, but unfortunately Jesse Garon was stillborn. The City of Tupelo bought the home and surrounding property in 1957, but Elvis wanted a park for the neighbourhood children and donated the proceeds from a 1957 concert to the Tupelo Fairgrounds to further the cause. The house stands in the original place and has been restored to its original condition, decorated with period furniture and is hosted by wonderful lady called Juanita Robison who were friends of the Presley family, I am not sure if she is still alive now, she was back in November 2006 when I visited the house.
The ‘Walk of Life’ is a concrete& granite circle surrounding the house where Elvis was born, donating each year of his life from 1935 to a complete circle at 1977 The first 13 years are written about important facts about each year. The Walk of Life allows fans to walk through every year of Elvis’ life, perhaps giving them an opportunity to stop and reflect on memorable event of his life as well as their own.
There are many other important parts of these beautiful parkland, ‘Elvis at 13’ Statue in bronze, Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel where before he died Elvis envisioned adding a chapel to the Park which later in years was created with a wonderful stained glass window.
The ‘Fountain of life’ also is so pretty, showing the years of Elvis’ life with thirteen upper waterspouts showing how many years Elvis lived in Tupelo and 29 lower spouts symbolizing Elvis’s life in Memphis.
The Elvis Museum has many artifacts that bring to life the childhood world of Elvis in Tupelo including his family and his first music. There is also a Gift shop with plenty of souvenirs unique to the birthplace and sold only at the shop.
The 1939 green Plymouth sedan is a replica of the car that the Presley drove when leaving Tupelo to travel to Memphis. It is privately owned and is leased to the park for display.
We arrived back to the Heartbreak Hotel, really tired, walked into the bar to receive a great cheer from guests staying at the hotel, because my cousin had arrived from Canada to spend time with me for my birthday, and she had told everybody. It was quite embarrassing but it was great to see her and for her to spend the next few days with me celebrating.