Historical Markers and War Memorials in Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo is the county seat for Lee County
Tupelo is in Lee County
Lee County(107) ► ADJACENT TO LEE COUNTY Chickasaw County(29) ► Itawamba County(21) ► Monroe County(30) ► Pontotoc County(30) ► Prentiss County(14) ► Union County(12) ►
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Near here, on May 26, 1736, French and Choctaw invaders under Bienville were soundly repulsed by Chickasaws defending the Ackia, Apeony, and Chukafalaya villages. Many French casualties occurred. — — Map (db m102783) HM
In the summer of 1864, General Forrest's hard hitting troops in Northern Mississippi threatened the supplies of General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. Therefore, General A. J. Smith marched 14,000 Union troops against Forrest. He reached . . . — — Map (db m6784) HM
Elvis Aaron Presley was born Jan. 8, 1935, in this house built by his father. Presley's career as a singer and entertainer redefined American popular music. He died on Aug. 16, 1977, at Memphis, Tennessee. — — Map (db m4477) HM
Carver School
Named for Dr. George Washington Carver, Carver School was built in 1939 to
serve the educational Tupelo's African-American children Carver, along with local churches, was the center of social activities for the . . . — — Map (db m102833) HM
(Marker #1)
A Chickasaw Village
Here once stood an Indian village of several houses and a fort.
Summer House
During the summer they lived in rectangular well-ventilated houses.
Winter House
In the winter . . . — — Map (db m84809) HM
Front
Raised on country here in Tupelo, first introduced as “The Hillbilly Cat,” then by RCA Victor as “the hottest new name in country music,” Elvis Presley’s revolutionary musical mix always had country as a key ingredient. Appearing . . . — — Map (db m102752) HM
Marker Front:
Elvis Presley revolutionized popular music by blending the blues he first heard as a youth in Tupelo with country, pop, and gospel.
Many of the first songs Elvis recorded for the Sun label in Memphis were covers of earlier . . . — — Map (db m29823) HM
On October 3, 1945, a ten-year old Elvis played to his first crowd on these grounds and took 5th place in a talent show.
Eleven years later he returned as the King of Rock and Roll!
Elvis in Tupelo
Elvis Aron Presley was born . . . — — Map (db m91174) HM
Attend a Pentecostal church service where Elvis first fell in love with gospel music.
Elvis Presley Birthplace presents a unique experience in the First Assembly of God Church where Elvis and his family regularly attended service. This structure . . . — — Map (db m29821) HM
First Presbyterian Church of Tupelo was founded in 1867 with twenty-five charter members and has worshipped at this site since 1905. After a tornado destroyed the church building in 1936, it was rebuilt using native sandstone and dedicated in 1938. . . . — — Map (db m122993) HM
In Commemoration of
Hernando De Soto
and his men who spent the winter of
1540 — 1541
in North East Mississippi prior to his
discovery of the Mississippi River — — Map (db m102786) HM
John E. Rankin, 1882-1960, served in the U.S. House of Representatives for sixteen consecutive terms (1920-1952). He was instrumental in the creation of TVA, REA & served as Chairman of Veterans Affairs. — — Map (db m144494) HM
In 1946, Tupelo radio station WELO broadcast weekly music jamborees from the Courthouse. Mississippi Slim, who had his own show on WELO, arranged for Elvis to perform at the jamboree. Elvis’ dream was to become as famous as Mississippi Slim and to . . . — — Map (db m144724) HM
At this site on February 13, 1948, 13-year-old Elvis, accompanied by his mother Gladys, applied for his first library card. Through the books he read from the Lee County Library, Elvis would vicariously travel to distant places and learn new things . . . — — Map (db m102820) HM
Dedicated to the memory of all those from Lee Co. who gave their lives in service of our country.
Word War I
Lindsay Barnes •
Robert L. Bolen •
Thomas C. Carter, Jr. •
Bulah G. Marks •
Claude A. Nichols •
Kuk L. Orr •
Claude . . . — — Map (db m155610) WM
Elvis enjoyed going to the movies, especially "westerns," at the Lyric Theatre. Friends recall how Elvis would climb over the divider in the balcony to sit among his African-American friends. The sweetest of the legends associated with this theatre . . . — — Map (db m155325) HM
In 1947, Elvis lived at the North end of Green Street, not far from here. Mayhorn Grocery previously occupied this space, and Elvis would walk to the store and sit on the porch listening to the blues. It was also here that he heard the sounds of . . . — — Map (db m102821) HM
This monument marks a stage in the course of the Natchez Trace through Mississippi. Over this first high-road came a tide of the best population of the older Southern states seeking homes in the Southwest. After the Treaty of Pontotoc, Oct. 20, . . . — — Map (db m84800) HM
In the early 1800's ordinary Americans could not be bothered with learning the names of Chickasaw villages on the Natchez Trace. One they called Old Town, and passed the name on to the stream running through this valley. It is one of the sources of . . . — — Map (db m84799) HM
Robins Field
Built in 1927, Robins Field was named for former Tupelo Mayor D.W. Robins and served as the Tupelo Schools' football field until 1991. On Friday nights, the all-white Tupelo High School Golden Wave football team played . . . — — Map (db m102826) HM
Marker Front:
Shake Rag, located east of the old M & O (later GM & O) railway tracks and extending northward from Main Street, was one of several historic African American communities in Tupelo. By the 1920s blues and jazz flowed freely . . . — — Map (db m29629) HM
(side 1)
Shake Rag – A Way of Life
Shake Rag, known for its music and influence on a young Elvis, was more than music to the people who lived there – it was a way of life. After emancipation, freed slaves moved into . . . — — Map (db m155351) HM
From 1943~47, Elvis' father, Vernon, worked for L.P. McCarty & Son's local wholesale grocery company making deliveries to various parts of the City. Shake Rag, a historically black community, was one of his delivery areas.
It was here that Elvis . . . — — Map (db m29630) HM
Sit-Ins Led to Civil Rights Act of 1964
During the 1960s, F. W. Woolworth Company operated lunch counters at its "five-and-dime stores" on a "local custom" basis - meaning racially segregated seating in the Southern United States. . . . — — Map (db m102846) HM
Spring Hill Missionary Baptist Church
Established approximately during the 1850s, Spring Hill Missionary
Baptist Church is the oldest African-American Church in Tupelo, The
original sanctuary, still standing today, was completed . . . — — Map (db m102827) HM
The Battle of King's Creek
The campaign to take Vicksburg and control of the Mississippi River
had begun. On May 5, 1863, mounted infantry and cavalry units of the
Federal Ninth Illinois, Tenth Missouri and Seventh Kansas, under . . . — — Map (db m102851) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m122996) HM
The Dixie Belle Theater
The rights of African-Americans during Reconstruction were greatly increased, and passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Acts of 1875 seemed to . . . — — Map (db m111482) HM
The Green Street Business District
The Green Street business district was the hub of the black community in the early part of the century, up to and beyond desegregation. The area from Barnes Street to Spring Street housed the . . . — — Map (db m102831) HM
The Iron Furnace
Hundreds of Union prisoners were interned here during the summer of 1862. Treated reasonably and guarded lightly, few tried to escape in anticipation of being exchanged, as was common practice early in the war. . . . — — Map (db m102840) HM
The Lyric Theatre was built in 1912 by Mr. R. F. Goodlett. Originally named The Comus, it hosted live vaudeville shows. In the 1930's it became a part of the Malco chain of movie houses and the name was changed to the Lyric Theatre. Its sturdy . . . — — Map (db m144732) HM
This is a replica of an outhouse that was typical in a poor, Southern neighborhood.
Oftentimes, a single privy was shared by several residents. The original outhouse located behind the row of rental houses along Saltillo Road was also shared by . . . — — Map (db m102842) HM
The Tupelo Swamp
Military strategists agree that when two forces of equal size oppose one another, the defending force has the advantage. Tupelo's geography emphasized that point during the war. Surrounded north, east and south by . . . — — Map (db m102841) HM
Side 1
At the onset of the Civil War, there were a few homes located in Tupelo near the intersection of the recently completed Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Pontotoc-to-Fulton Road, now Main Street. One of those homes was the . . . — — Map (db m91175) HM
Town Creek Tupelo Encampment
Throughout the Civil War, the Tupelo area was ideal for large numbers of troops to camp, train and recuperate from sickness, wounds and fatigue. There was an abundance of clean water and of billy land . . . — — Map (db m102843) HM
Tupelo Baptist Church
As often happened in the middle of Civil War conflict, partisan lines became blurred when the care of wounded soldiers was necessary. A field hospital created by Union troops to treat their soldiers wounded in . . . — — Map (db m102838) HM
The sun rose on July 14 with Union General Andrew J. Smith having stolen the advantage from
Confederate Generals Forrest and Lee. The Union line occupied high ground, facing west and north
The Confederate forces, with 7,500 men compared to Smith's . . . — — Map (db m102773) HM
Although General Smith and the Union troops had defeated
the Confederates on July 14, according to Sherman's orders.
Smith should have attacked Forrest and Lee in an attempt to
destroy the Confederate cavalry. Examining his supplies . . . — — Map (db m102779) HM
As Union general William T. Sherman started his Atlanta Campaign in the summer of 1864, he wanted to protect his vulnerable supply line by ensuring that Confederate cavalry, including General Nathan Bedford Forrest, did not attack it. In June, an . . . — — Map (db m102780) HM
(front)
CSA
Erected in honor of
and to the memory of
Confederate Soldiers
by their
comrades, their
sons and daughters.
The love, gratitude,
and memory of the
people of the South
Shall gild their
fame in one . . . — — Map (db m89098) WM
In 1946, Elvis' mother, Gladys brought him here to buy a bicycle. Once they arrived, a 22-caliber rifle caught Elvis' eye, and he asked his mother to buy it instead. She wasn't happy about purchasing a gun so they compromised on a guitar. Forest L. . . . — — Map (db m102822) HM
