Tupelo, Mississippi, is best known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley. But Tupelo has another claim to fame: It was the first city to gain an electrical power grid in the 1930s under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs that included creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
And here’s one more little-known fact: Tupelo was the site of the last robbery committed by 1930s gangster Machine Gun Kelly. He and his gang robbed the Citizen’s State Bank on November 30, 1932, stealing $38,000.
The town also has numerous historic sites on the Civil War Trail and is a stop on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Today, I’m going to share some photos Sweetums and I took in downtown Tupelo, with plans to write about Elvis’ birthplace at a later date.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW
CLICK HERE to read about the mystery of graves along the Natchez Trace near Tupelo.
Even without visiting Elvis’ birthplace or the Natchez Trace, Tupelo’s lovely downtown makes a great road-trip destination. A few fun surprises we discovered there (shown in gallery):
- Colorful murals on sides of buildings, including two paintings with 3D elements.
- Guitar art installations.
- A marker at the site of the FW Woolworth’s where Civil Rights sit-ins occurred in the 1960s.
- The gorgeous Lee County Courthouse.
- A monument to the Temperance Movement erected by the Tupelo Womens’ Charity January 1, 1905, in support of Prohibition.
- The Lyric Theatre.
- A marker on the burial site of a Bicentennial Time Capsule to be opened July 4, 2076.
- A statue of Elvis in Fairpark, a park on the site of the old fairgrounds where Elvis performed.
KellyKazek.com 