Young Elvis: Exploring His Roots in Tupelo, Mississippi
In honour of Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday, we visited his birthplace, the church he sang at, and the hardware store where his mother bought his first guitar.
Clear blue skies stretched overhead, interrupted only by the boiling southern sun beating down as we drove into Elvis Presley’s birthplace – the vibrant city of Tupelo, Mississippi. The weather was doubtless a good omen of what was to come. Over two days we would visit the original house where The King of Rock and Roll was born, the chapel across the road where he would regularly sing, Tupelo Hardware Company where his mother bought his first guitar, and Johnnie’s Drive In, his favourite diner.
This is where it all began.
Elvis Presley’s Birthplace
Sophie on the front porch of Elvis Presley’s birthplace
On January 8, 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley was born in a small two-roomed house in Tupelo built by his father. The home consists of a shared bedroom where young Elvis and his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, would sleep in together, plus a joint kitchen and dining room used for meals. A small porch with a swing has survived out front whilst the back door gives way to a tiny, picketed yard around a metre in length. Although Elvis would eventually move to Memphis, Tennessee with his family when he was 13 years old, the humble shack in Tupelo remains today, maintained the way it was when Elvis was a child.
The house now stands by itself with its surroundings refurbished to become the Elvis Presley Birthplace Park, which began because of proceeds Elvis donated from his 1957 concert at the Mississippi-Alabama fair. The shack was dilapidated after the Presley family left for Memphis, but interest in the property soared during Elvis’ rise to fame. So, armed with foresight into the opportunity this could provide, members of the East Heights Garden Club got to work repairing the shack so that Elvis fans could visit by 1971.
In 2025, with the area complete with signposts and a gift shop, you can now walk through the original home of Elvis Presley for $12 (£9.55). All tickets must be purchased at the front desk which closes every day at 3pm, an hour before the attraction shuts.
The family bedroom inside the house
However, there is more to be seen besides the home at the Elvis Presley Birthplace Park. A stone’s throw from it, Elvis’ childhood church named Assembly of God (where the Presley family attended church service and Elvis first heard rich, Southern gospel which would influence his coming repertoire) has been moved. This way, visitors can enjoy both experiences on the same day. Much of this building has been refurbished, but parts of the original flooring remain.
Tickets to enter any one attraction cost $12 but entering both the church and the birthplace will set you back $20 (£15.92).
Elvis died in 1977, aged 42, in his home in Memphis, Tennessee – the mansion he called Graceland where his grave now lies. By this point, the world of rock and roll had been redefined and music changed forever. But stepping inside his humble birthplace in Tupelo, where he lived with dirt-poor parents and a burning dream, will change you eternally.
Tupelo Hardware Company
Sophie and Tupelo Hardware Company president George H Booth II at X marks the spot
Downtown Tupelo is a wondrous place. Back-alley walls are littered with colourful Elvis murals and the pavements line with Elvis-themed guitars (you can do the Elvis Guitar Tour and follow the trail through the city). But a most impressive sight is the Tupelo Hardware Company store – the place where Gladys Presley bought young Elvis his first guitar for his 11th birthday. As a family business opened by George H. Booth in 1926, the shop has been passed down to George H. Booth II who keeps the interior the same as it always was.
Guitars on sale in Tupelo Hardware Company
“This is the original counter that was used – X marks the spot,” George told me, pointing to the taped “X” on the floorboards to represent where Elvis stood for the exchange. The counter in question is, indeed, the original one from 1946. “It’s been there since just after World War Two, and I’ve never seen it moved.”
Above the counter hangs a painting of young Elvis with the guitar Gladys bought – a six-string acoustic which sold for $7.75 (£6.15 today). In 1953, 18-year-old Elvis used the same guitar to make his first recording, “My Happiness”, at Sun Studios in Memphis. The rest is history.
Johnnie’s Drive In
Johnnie’s Drive In with original decor
On the outskirts of Tupelo sits a portal to 1940s America. Its interiors are untouched from the days when young Elvis would come in for lunch with his family – the walls peppered with posters, newspaper clippings and number plates from the time, and its polished wooden booths and checkered menus seasoning its vintage flare that bit more. The portal in question goes by Johnnie’s Drive In, Elvis’ favourite diner in his hometown.
But the crown jewel of the tiny restaurant – charming though this description seems – is the golden plaque poised above one booth by the far wall. “The Elvis Booth”, it reads, stentorian in three simple words. Sitting in it felt otherworldly, like we’d stepped into a time capsule and suddenly interrupted a lunch with the Presley family.
I dined on the restaurant’s signature main course, a dough burger with ridge-cut chips. Although the burger (which is made from ground beef, flour, mustard, pickle and onion) doesn’t sound appetising, it was a surprisingly pleasant meal, and I would happily eat it again.
Leaving Tupelo felt like parting from a poignant part of history. Everyone knows about Graceland, the great mansion where Elvis lived for the rest of his days, but more people should see and experience the breadcrumbs he left around his hometown of Tupelo. It’s simultaneously an effervescent city and a vintage time capsule – somewhere you can relive young Elvis’ life in a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I’d go again in a heartbeat.
Elvis’ Facts
- Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi.
- The singer was 24 when he first met Priscilla Beaulieu, who later became his wife.
- Priscilla was 21 years old when she married Elvis on May 1, 1967 in Las Vegas.
- Elvis died at home in Graceland aged 42 on August 16, 1977.
- He would have turned 90 years old on January 8, 2025.
- Elvis is now buried at his Memphis, Tennessee home, Graceland.
Graceland in Memphis Pic: Shutterstock
Travel File
This trip to Tupelo was part of a 15-day fly/drive tour of the Deep South. Destinations on our journey included Nashville, Franklin and Memphis in Tennessee, Muscle Shoals/Florence, Birmingham and Mobile in Alabama, New Orleans in Louisiana, and Jackson and Tupelo in Mississippi.
We flew from Edinburgh to Nashville and reached Tupelo by rental car.
Prices start from £2,299pp including return flights, 15-night hotel accommodation,15-day car rental and day by day driving instructions.
Call the Barrhead Travel USA specialists for more information on 0330 094 8364. Find your nearest Barrhead Travel store by visiting barrheadtravel.co.uk.
