The statue stands on hallowed ground for Elvis fans. The site used to be the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, where Elvis took fifth prize in a singing competition at the age of 10 for his rendition of "Old Shep."

When Elvis returned to this location in Tupelo in 1956 and 1957 for some homecoming concerts, the National Guard was called in to provide security.

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Elvis attended seventh and eighth grade at Milam Junior High School, bringing his guitar to school everyday and playing for other kids at lunch.

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Placed in the park across from the Tupelo City Hall, this young Elvis statue was unveiled on August 9, 2012.

Elvis is depicted as he looked during the 1956 and 1957 Tupelo concerts. His hand is outstretched so you can reach out and touch the magic.

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From an Elvis plaque outside the courthouse:

"In 1946, Tupelo radio station WELO broadcast weekly music jamborees from the Courthouse. Mississippi Slim, who had his own show on WELO, arranged for Elvis to perform at the jamboree. Elvis' dream was to become as famous as Mississippi Slim and to have his own radio show some day."

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Elvis and his family lived near this predominantly African-American neighborhood in Tupelo. The Mississippi Blues Commission put a sign here in 2003 that reads as follows:

"Shake Rag, located east of the old M&O (later GM&O) railway tracks and extending northward from Main Street, was one of several historic African American communities in Tupelo. By the 1920s blues and jazz flowed freely from performers at Shake Rag restaurants, cafes, and house parties, and later from jukeboxes, while the sounds of gospel music filled the churches. The neighborhood was leveled and its residents relocated during an urban renewal project initiated in the late 1960s."

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