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*[[Paul Thorn]] (b. 1964) Singer-songwriter
*[[Paul Thorn]] (b. 1964) Singer-songwriter
*[[Van Tiffin]] (b. 1965) American football placekicker, born in Tupelo
*[[Van Tiffin]] (b. 1965) American football placekicker, born in Tupelo
*[[Kent Friloux]] (b. 1996) coolest guy around
*[[Kent Friloux]] (b. 1996) they call me kentfreethrow... HA. HA.
*[[Josh G.]] (b. 1996) they call me the joshinator
*[[Josh G.]] (b. 1996) they call me the joshinator


Revision as of 20:06, 4 September 2012

Tupelo, Mississippi
City
Nickname: 
T-Town
Location of Tupelo in Lee County
Location of Tupelo in Lee County
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyLee
Incorporated1870
Government
 • MayorJack Reed Jr. (R)
Area
 • City51.4 sq mi (133.2 km2)
 • Land51.1 sq mi (132.4 km2)
 • Water0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
Elevation
279 ft (85 m)
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • City34,546
 • Density709/sq mi (274/km2)
 • Metro
146,131
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
38801-38804
Area code662
FIPS code28-74840
GNIS feature ID0678931
Websitewww.ci.tupelo.ms.us
File:1936 Tupelo, MS Tornado.gif
Students clearing the ruins of the Lee County Training School, a month after the 1936 tornado
Tupelo, Mississippi area map of historic sites

Tupelo /ˈtuːpəloʊ/ is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 34,546, with surrounding counties of Lee, Pontotoc and Itawamba supporting a population of 146,131. The city is best known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley.[2] Situated in northeast Mississippi, the city lies between Memphis, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama, along U.S. Route 78.

History

European-American settlers had first named the town Gum Pond prior to the American Civil War, supposedly due to the high number of tupelo trees, locally known as blackgum, that grew in the area. The city still hosts the annual Gumtree Arts Festival. The Southern expression, Possum Up A Gum Tree came from this area. [3] During the war, the local Battle of Tupelo was named after the trees in the area. In the post-Civil War era, Tupelo became the northern Mississippi site for the crossing of a railroad, which encouraged industry in the town. Once the town began to grow, it changed its name to Tupelo, in honor of the battle. Tupelo was incorporated in 1870 with a population of 618. [citation needed] The war site has been designated the Tupelo National Battlefield and is administered by the National Park Service (NPS).

Famous prohibition-era gangster Machine Gun Kelly's last known bank robbery occurred on November 30, 1932 at the Citizen’s State Bank in Tupelo netting his gang $38,000. After the robbery the bank’s chief teller would say of Kelly, “He was the kind of guy that, if you looked at him, you would never thought he was a bank robber.”[4]

In 1934 Tupelo and its region gained electricity from the new Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited this "First TVA City".

The Spring of 1936 brought Tupelo one of its worst-ever natural disasters, as the infamous Tupelo Tornado ranks fourth deadliest in U.S. history. Part of the Tupelo-Gainesville outbreak of April 5–6 in that year,[5] the Tupelo storm, which struck at night and destroyed large residential areas on the city's north side, was subsequently rated EF5 on the modern Fujita scale. The Gum Pond neighborhood was obliterated, and most of the victims' bodies were left in that pond by the tornado.[6] The official death toll was 216, but the true number is unknown since African-Americans were not counted. One fortunate survivor of the storm was the baby Elvis Presley. Historian Martis D. Ramage, Jr.'s book, "Tupelo, Mississippi, Tornado of 1936," chronicles the devastation of the tornado, with many rare photographs, Another tornado struck in 2008, Rated an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The nearby village of Blue Springs was selected during the spring of 2007 as the site for Toyota's eleventh U.S. automobile manufacturing plant.

Culture & Attractions

  • The Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo is home to hundreds of animals and a large American bison herd.
  • Tupelo is the headquarters of the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, connecting Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, while following the route of the original Natchez Trace trail.[2] Nearby are the Pharr Mounds, an important Middle Woodland period complex of burial earthworks dating from 1 and 200 CE.[7]
  • Civil War battlefields include Tupelo National Battlefield and Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield.
  • One of the largest automobile museums in North America, the Tupelo Automobile Museum [2] opened on December 7, 2002. It was designated the official State of Mississippi automobile museum in the spring of 2003. The museum is home to more than 150 rare automobiles, all of which were part of the personal collection of WTVA founder Frank K. Spain.
  • Tupelo Community Theatre was founded in 1969. The theatre has produced over 200 productions. In 2001 and 2004 it won awards at the Mississippi Theatre Association Community Theatre festival. In 2004 its production of Bel Canto won at the Southeastern Theatre Conference. TCT's home is the historic Lyric Theatre, built in 1912.[citation needed]
  • The Tupelo Symphony Orchestra's season runs from September–April with concerts held at the Tupelo Civic Auditorium.[3] The symphony also holds a free annual July 4 outdoor concert at Tupelo's Ballard Park, which draws thousands of fans.
  • In 2005, the Tupelo Rotary Club sponsored a commission for a statue of Chief Piomingo, a leader of the Chickasaw people, which was erected in front of the new city hall.
  • Tupelo's Oren Dunn City Museum tells the Story of Community Building through permanent exhibits and a collection of historic structures. The Special Exhibit Gallery provides a venue for a variety of traveling and temporary shows throughout the year.
  • In June 1956 Elvis Presley returned to Tupelo for a concert at the Mississippi-Alabama State Fair & Dairy Show. The event was recreated at the eighth "Elvis Presley Festival" in Tupelo on June 3, 2006. The fairgrounds is now part of Tupelo's Fairpark District. The documentary film The Homecoming: Tupelo Welcomes Elvis Home, premiered at the 2006 festival.
  • The Lee County Library's annual Helen Foster Lecture series has sponsored nationally known authors.
  • Built in 1937, Tupelo's Church Street Elementary School was hailed as one of the most outstanding designs of its time. A scale model of this Art Moderne structure was displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair as "the ideal elementary school."
  • Tupelo's coliseum, the BancorpSouth Arena,[3] opened in 1993.

Government

Tupelo's current mayor is Republican Jack Reed Jr.. The president of the Tupelo City Council is Fred Pitts. The other six council members are Markel Whittenton, Jim Newll, Nettie Davis, Jonny Davis, Mike Bryan, and Willie Jennings.

Education

Tupelo schools are served by the Tupelo Public School District. The 2008 Tupelo Golden Wave high school baseball team was ranked #1 in the nation for 2 weeks. The Tupelo High School Athletic department was ranked #3 in the nation in 2008 by Sports Illustrated as best athletic department.

Tupelo is home to satellite campuses of the University of Mississippi, Itawamba Community College, and the Mississippi University for Women.

Economy

Historically, Tupelo served as a regional transportation hub, primarily due to its location at a railroad intersection. More recently, it has developed as strong tourism and hospitality sector based around the Elvis Presley birthplace and Natchez Trace. The city has also been successful at attracting manufacturing, retail and distribution operations (see 'Industry' section below).[8]

Industry

  • Tupelo is the headquarters of the North Mississippi Medical Center, the largest non-metropolitan hospital in the United States. It serves people in North Mississippi, northwest Alabama and portions of Tennessee. The medical center was a winner of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2006.
  • Tupelo is the headquarters of two banking institutions - BancorpSouth, with approximately $11.8 billion in assets (2006), and Renasant, with assets of approximately $4.2 billion (2011).
  • The city is a four-time "All-America City Award" winner and has one of the largest furniture manufacturing industries in the US. As journalist Dennis Seid of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal noted in the February 2006 edition of The Northeast Mississippi Business Journal, furniture manufacturing is crucial to the economy of Northeast Mississippi, "providing some 22,000 jobs, or almost 13% of the region's employment... with a $732 million annual payroll... producing $2.25 billion worth of goods."
  • Tupelo had the first Comcast cable system. [citation needed]
  • Tecumseh, Furniture Brands International, Hancock Fabrics, Inc., Magnolia Fabrics, Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Mississippi, H.M. Richards, JESCO Construction, MTD Products, Savings Oil Company (Dodge's Stores), and Cooper Tire & Rubber Company all operate or are headquartered in Tupelo and Lee County.
  • Enerkem, a Quebec-based biofuels company, has received a grant/loan from the DOE to build a plant near Tupelo to convert municipal waste into ethanol fuel.[9]

Demographics

Part of the child work force at Tupelo Cotton Mills, May 1911. Photographed by Lewis Hine.
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1870618—
18801,00863.1%
18901,47746.5%
19002,11843.4%
19103,88183.2%
19205,05530.2%
19306,36125.8%
19408,21229.1%
195011,52740.4%
196017,22149.4%
197020,47118.9%
198023,90516.8%
199030,68528.4%
200034,21111.5%
201034,5461.0%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 34,211 people, 13,395 households, and 9,108 families residing in the city. The population density is 669.4 people per square mile (258.4/km²). There are 14,551 housing units at an average density of 284.7 per square mile (109.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 69.40% White, 28.29% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. 1.41% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.[citation needed]

There are 13,395 households out of which 34.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% are married couples living together, 16.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% are non-families. 28.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 3.04.[citation needed]

In the city the population is spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 25, 30.5% from 25 to 45, 21.4% from 45 to 65, and 12.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.6 males.[citation needed]

The median income for a household in the city is $38,401. Males have a median income of $35,027 versus $23,988 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,024.[citation needed]

Media

The local daily newspapers are the nemscitizen.com and Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

Tupelo is home to three television stations serving the 133rd-ranked designated market area among 210 markets nationwide as determined by Nielsen Media Research: WTVA (9), an NBC affiliate; WLOV (27), a Fox affiliate, and WKDH (45), an ABC affiliate. All three stations are located just outside the Tupelo city limits and were controlled by Frank K. Spain until his death on April 25, 2006.

Geography and climate

Tupelo is located in northeast Mississippi, north of Columbus, on future Interstate 22 and U.S. Route 78, midway between Memphis, Tennessee (northwest) and Birmingham, Alabama (southeast).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 51.4 square miles (133 km2), of which 51.1 square miles (132 km2) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) (0.62%) is water.

Climate data for Tupelo, Mississippi
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 80
(27) 		84
(29) 		87
(31) 		93
(34) 		100
(38) 		108
(42) 		109
(43) 		108
(42) 		104
(40) 		96
(36) 		87
(31) 		81
(27) 		109
(43)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 50
(10) 		56
(13) 		65
(18) 		74
(23) 		81
(27) 		88
(31) 		91
(33) 		90
(32) 		85
(29) 		75
(24) 		63
(17) 		54
(12) 		66
(19)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 30
(−1) 		34
(1) 		41
(5) 		48
(9) 		58
(14) 		66
(19) 		70
(21) 		68
(20) 		62
(17) 		49
(9) 		40
(4) 		33
(1) 		50
(10)
Record low °F (°C) −14
(−26) 		−3
(−19) 		7
(−14) 		23
(−5) 		30
(−1) 		43
(6) 		50
(10) 		51
(11) 		38
(3) 		24
(−4) 		8
(−13) 		−3
(−19) 		−14
(−26)
Average rainfall inches (mm) 5.14
(131) 		4.68
(119) 		6.30
(160) 		4.94
(125) 		5.80
(147) 		4.82
(122) 		3.65
(93) 		2.67
(68) 		3.35
(85) 		3.38
(86) 		5.01
(127) 		6.12
(155) 		55.86
(1,419)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 1.3
(3.3) 		0.9
(2.3) 		0.3
(0.76) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.3
(0.76) 		2.8
(7.1)
Average relative humidity (%) 48.5 73.5 71.5 70.0 71.5 74.0 75.0 76.5 75.5 74.5 71.5 72.5 76.5
Source: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USMS0400

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/mississippi/tupelo/

Notable people

Elvis' birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi[10]

Notes

  1. ^ "2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File". American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "About the City of Tupelo" (2006), City of Tupelo website, web: TupeloMS-About: for Elvis, the Natchez Trace Parkway, and Tupelo Automobile Museum.
  3. ^ a b c "City of Tupelo - Attractions" (2006), City of Tupelo website, web: TupeloMS-Attractions: for Symphony, Elvis Presley Lake, Bancorpsouth Center, Lyric Theatre, and Gumtree Museum of Art.
  4. ^ "George "Machine Gun" Kelly : American Robber and Kidnapper". crimelibrary. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  5. ^ "Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak" (c)2008 Digital Library of Georgia, retrieved 12 Sept 2011
  6. ^ "This Day In History; Tornadoes Devastate Tupelo and Gainesville" The History Channel online, retrieved 13 Sept 2011
  7. ^ "Pharr Mounds-National Register of Historic Places Indian Mounds of Mississippi Travel Itinerary". National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  8. ^ "About Tupelo | City of Tupelo". Tupeloms.gov. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  9. ^ Wald, Matthew L. (2011-06-01). "Enerkem, a Garbage-to-Energy Venture, Gains Momentum". Canada;Edmonton (Alberta): Green.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  10. ^ a b "Elvis gets marker on Mississippi Blues Trail". USAToday.com. January 7, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
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