Elvis Presley Birthplace
Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi
Marker Inscription
The Birthplace The Elvis Presley Birthplace Park was begun with proceeds Elvis donated from his 1957 concert at the Mississippi-Alabama fair. Unchanged since it was built in the 1930's, the two-room birthplace sat unoccupied and in poor repair. As Elvis rose to stardom, thousands of fans began coming to Tupelo to see his birthplace and wishing to see inside the house. Seeing a worthy project for the park and the city, members of the East Heights Garden Club took the initiative to open the house to fans. While members scrubbed and painted, their husbands made structural repairs needed for the safety of visitors. Requests for period furnishings were published in the local paper. All items in the refitted home were donated by area residents. When the house was opened in 1971, Garden Club members served as volunteer hostesses, often meeting fans outside Tupelo to guide them to the Birthplace Park. Today the house stands as a memorial to the humble beginning of Elvis' amazing career and a fitting tribute to the vision and dedication of the women of the East Heights Garden Club.
Erected by Elvis Presley Birthplace
The Story
This two-room shotgun house is where Elvis Presley was born in 1935, in a working-class corner of Tupelo. After Elvis rose to fame he funded a park here with proceeds from a 1957 hometown concert, and the women of the East Heights Garden Club took on the restoration — scrubbing, painting, and furnishing the rooms with period pieces donated by local residents so it could open to fans in 1971. Their volunteer hostesses often met travelers outside town to guide them in.
Why it matters
It is a touchstone of American celebrity pilgrimage, and its rescue is a small monument to the civic energy of local women who saw the house's worth before others did.
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Related people
- · Elvis Presley
Themes & tags
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