Elvis Would Be Turning 90 in 2025. Here’s What It’s Like to Visit His Boyhood Home.

Reminders of Elvis’s life and music are everywhere, even 47 years after his death. From hearing one of his many hits on the radio to playfully mumbling “Thank you very much” in imitation of The King of Rock and Roll’s distinctive drawl to watching a seemingly never-ending stream of movies about his life, Elvis is gone but not forgotten.

But there’s no place he’s remembered so well as the city of his birth: Tupelo, Mississippi.

Although other cities claim Elvis’s history — namely Memphis, where his iconic home, Graceland, still stands — Tupelo tells a more innocent story of a young boy who sang in a country gospel church and bought his first guitar down at the local hardware store. If Elvis were alive today, he’d be getting ready to celebrate his 90th birthday on January 8, 2025. While no one knows what turning 90 would have looked like for Elvis, one thing’s sure: Tupelo is ready to celebrate the birth of her favorite son.

The History of Tupelo

In upper Mississippi, Tupelo was initially settled by the Chickasaw Nation, who ceded what is now present-day Tupelo after the War of 1812 ended. President Andrew Jackson subsequently ordered the Chickasaw moved to Oklahoma, and Mississippi became the 20th state to enter the Union in 1818. Tupelo was chartered in 1870 with a population of 618 people; Henry C. Medford became the city’s first mayor. In 2020, the city, now home to 37,000 people, celebrated its sesquicentennial.

Aside from being famous as Elvis’s birthplace, Tupelo was the first city to be supplied with power from the Tennessee Valley Authority. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Tupelo in 1934 — the year before Elvis was born — and officially flipped the switch on the federally operated utility.

Elvis’s Birthplace and Early Years

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in 1935 in a two-room shotgun-style home built by his father, Vernon Presley, with $180 that he borrowed. The home was later repossessed because Vernon could not repay the loan for the building materials. The family lived in various other locations in Tupelo until Elvis was 13, after which they moved to Memphis.

The Elvis lore in Tupelo is dedicated to Elvis’s early life. If you want to explore the history of his rise to fame, flashy sequined jumpsuits, and life of indulgent excess, Memphis and Graceland tell the story of that stage of his life. Tupelo paints a picture of the gentler time of Elvis’s formative years and his musical foundations.

Visiting Tupelo Today

Unsurprisingly, Elvis-related tourism is the top draw for Tupelo. Although the Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum receives substantially fewer visitors than Graceland – about 100,000 visitors per year compared with Graceland’s 600,000 – Tupelo is an easy add-on to a pilgrimage to Memphis, just 115 miles southeast. The birthplace complex contains the home built by Vernon, Elvis’s boyhood church, a memorial park, and a small museum dedicated to his early life and times. The home was re-purchased by Elvis when he was 21, with the proceeds from his 1957 homecoming concert in Tupelo. Elvis donated the house, plus 15 acres, to the city, along with funds to build a park and youth center, which today houses the visitor’s center and museum.

Elvis’ birthplace home was staged with the help of his father, who provided advice on the placement of the modest furnishings. Although most items inside aren’t original to the home, the Presley family donated the old-fashioned icebox. It’s humbling to stand in the tiny space, so simple compared to most homes today, and realize that someone who rose to meteoric fame had such austere beginnings.

The church on the property has been restored to look as it did when Elvis attended services as a child. The immersive church experience lasts about 20 minutes. Guests file into old-fashioned wooden pews, and a docent stands at the pulpit to give a brief speech. Then, state-of-the-art video screens descend from the ceiling, and visitors plunge into a 1940s-era gospel service. The service is projected onto the walls, which gives a 360-degree experience so real that you have to look at your shoes to convince yourself a time machine hasn’t rocketed you back 70-something years. The service culminates with a shy, young Elvis performing a solo hymn.

The park also includes a reflecting pond featuring the sculpture Becoming, which consists of two juxtaposed statues: 11-year-old Elvis holding a guitar in his lap, shadowed by Elvis the Entertainer in all his jumpsuited glory holding his cape aloft.

In the small museum are displays of some of young Elvis’ comic books and the story of his boyhood fascination with superheroes. It makes one wonder if his later glitzier, fitted sequined jumpsuits and flowing capes were inspired by his childhood admiration of Captain Marvel Junior.

Downtown Tupelo

Downtown Tupelo is full of Elvis memories. The Tupelo Hardware Company, where Elvis got his first guitar, is still a thriving hardware store. An X on the floor marks the spot where Elvis stood when the proprietor took the guitar from the display case and handed it to a newly minted 11-year-old whose mama had said no to the rifle he’d really wanted for his birthday. And, unlike most modern-day hardware stores, this one still sells guitars.

Stroll through Reed’s Department Store, where Elvis’s mother, Gladys Presley, once worked. A large mural in the men’s department shows employees at the 1934 company picnic, where you can see Gladys when she was pregnant with Elvis.

Downtown is also home to Fair Park, once a fairground where Elvis performed in 1956 and 1957. A statue of Elvis performing is a larger-than-life landmark and a fun selfie spot. Amid the fashionable boutiques, galleries, and eateries, Elvis murals and painted six-foot guitars dot the cityscape, offering a perfect blend of homage to The King and present-day food and shopping.

Tupelo Beyond Elvis

Although the light shines brightly on Elvis, there are other things to do in town, such as taking a charcuterie board-making class at CharCutie Tupelo, sampling mead made with Mississippi honey at Queen’s Reward Meadery, or exploring the area on a bike. Hotel Tupelo offers complimentary loaner bikes for guests.

Exploring the Mississippi stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway — a 444-mile scenic road that also winds through Alabama and Tennessee — is another popular Tupelo pastime. The Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center has interpretive exhibits that explain the area’s history. A Chickasaw Heritage Center, which will tell the story of the native people displaced after the War of 1812, is currently under construction and expected to open in late 2026.

Celebrating the Life of Elvis

Although Tupelo expects a record number of visitors on Elvis’s January 8 birthday, and the Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum will have a celebration complete with cake, the real party doesn’t start until summer. Every June, more than 40,000 people descend on Tupelo for the annual Elvis Festival to celebrate his life and contributions to music because, let’s face it: June is a much more pleasant time for outdoor festivities than January.

This five-day event includes performances by Elvis tribute artists, professional performers that imitate Elvis’s look and musical style. These artists are serious about their craft, so expect to be politely corrected if you refer to them as “Elvis impersonators.” The festival also includes celebrity appearances, living history re-enactments of important events in Elvis’s life, a 5K race, food — odds of finding a peanut butter and banana sandwich and some fried pickles are above average — and other events sponsored by the Tupelo Elvis Presley Fan Club.

It’s an opportunity to join other fans in honoring what Elvis gave to the world of music and pop culture and perhaps wistfully discussing what might have been if he’d lived a longer life. One thing we know with absolute certainty — we’re all glad his mom said no to the rifle. Happy Birthday, Elvis.

The 2025 Tupelo Elvis Festival takes place June 4-8 in Tupelo, Mississippi.