What happened here?
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in a modest two-room shotgun house in East Tupelo, Mississippi. His father Vernon built the home in 1934 with $180 borrowed from his employer, with help from his father and brother. The Presley family lived there for only about three years before the house was repossessed when Vernon couldn't repay the loan, and they spent the following decade moving between various Tupelo addresses before relocating to Memphis when Elvis was thirteen. During those Tupelo years, Elvis attended the local Assembly of God church and absorbed the gospel, blues, and country music that would become the foundation of his sound.
The birthplace house is a remarkable survivor — a tiny two-room structure, around 450 square feet, that looks essentially as it did in 1935. The fact that it still stands is largely due to the efforts of the Presley family's former neighbours and local preservation advocates who acquired it in the 1970s and converted it into a heritage site. The surrounding 15 acres have since been developed into Elvis Presley Park, which also includes a museum, a memorial chapel, and the relocated family Assembly of God Church building. The park draws over 100,000 visitors a year.
The birthplace is open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 4pm, and Sunday afternoons. Adult admission for all three attractions is around $25. The address on Elvis Presley Drive — renamed from its original designation in his honour — is well signposted from the centre of Tupelo. The site is affiliated with the Mississippi Blues Trail and the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area, placing it formally within the landscape of American music history.