Elvis' birthplace - is it the real one?:
Sid Shaw has raised a controversial issue about Elvis' birthplace in the latest issue of his excellent "Elvisly Yours Cyber Newsletter". Folowing on earlier reports that the Presley's Tupelo home is currently sited in an incorrect spot, Sid now questions whether the one-room shack is in fact the real one. Sid says:
"Doubts are emerging that the shack in Tupelo, described as the birthplace, was never set foot in by Elvis Presley. Over the years I took the "Elvisly Yours Fan Club" tours to Tupelo and heard all sorts of rumours about the authenticity of the birthplace. I was always impressed with the dignity of Tupelo and the tranquility of the Park they created in Elvis' memory that I just let the matter rest, especially compared to the crass commercialism of Graceland.
However, there are members of Elvis' family now openly stating the shack is not genuine and it is just a replica of the real birthplace, including an aunt who was present at the birth and she is still alive.
Local folklore suggests the shack was moved from the original street in Tupelo and rebuilt at the Park thus making it a tourist attraction and now money-spinner. Apparently, the land on which the Park was built is owned by a wealthy landowner in Tupelo, so it has been very convenient and lucrative for him for the shack to be called the birthplace. It is believed the original house still exists, yet somehow the shack you see in Tupelo has been allowed to keep the mythology of the birthplace.
There is even a historical marker and I wonder what research was conducted by the Agency that issues such markers? I will be writing to them for an explanation and with our contacts in Tupelo will disclose further information to be published in future Cyber Newsletters. It seems the "Presleys" have not been treated well in that part of the South and there are still many, many of them. In fact, a genealogist in Verona Mississippi claims to have found 1,500 Presleys in the family database". (News, Source: Elvisly Yours)
Sid Shaw has raised a controversial issue about Elvis' birthplace in the latest issue of his excellent "Elvisly Yours Cyber Newsletter". Folowing on earlier reports that the Presley's Tupelo home is currently sited in an incorrect spot, Sid now questions whether the one-room shack is in fact the real one. Sid says:
"Doubts are emerging that the shack in Tupelo, described as the birthplace, was never set foot in by Elvis Presley. Over the years I took the "Elvisly Yours Fan Club" tours to Tupelo and heard all sorts of rumours about the authenticity of the birthplace. I was always impressed with the dignity of Tupelo and the tranquility of the Park they created in Elvis' memory that I just let the matter rest, especially compared to the crass commercialism of Graceland.
However, there are members of Elvis' family now openly stating the shack is not genuine and it is just a replica of the real birthplace, including an aunt who was present at the birth and she is still alive.
Local folklore suggests the shack was moved from the original street in Tupelo and rebuilt at the Park thus making it a tourist attraction and now money-spinner. Apparently, the land on which the Park was built is owned by a wealthy landowner in Tupelo, so it has been very convenient and lucrative for him for the shack to be called the birthplace. It is believed the original house still exists, yet somehow the shack you see in Tupelo has been allowed to keep the mythology of the birthplace.
There is even a historical marker and I wonder what research was conducted by the Agency that issues such markers? I will be writing to them for an explanation and with our contacts in Tupelo will disclose further information to be published in future Cyber Newsletters. It seems the "Presleys" have not been treated well in that part of the South and there are still many, many of them. In fact, a genealogist in Verona Mississippi claims to have found 1,500 Presleys in the family database". (News, Source: Elvisly Yours)