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Wikipedia:
Tupelo, Mississippi
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The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. |
| Tupelo, Mississippi | |
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| Nickname: All America City, T-Town, | |
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Lee |
| Founded | |
| Incorporated | 1870 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Ed Neelly |
| Area | |
| - City | sq mi (km²) |
| - Land | sq mi ( km²) |
| - Water | sq mi ( km²) |
| Elevation | ft ( m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - City | |
| - Density | /sq mi (/km²) |
| - Metro | |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 38801-38804 |
| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-74840 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0678931 |
| Website: www.ci.tupelo.ms.us | |
Tupelo (IPA: [tu:pəlo]) is the largest city and county seat within Lee
County, Mississippi. It is the eighth largest city in the state of Mississippi,
smaller than Meridian, and larger than Olive Branch. The Tupelo area — specifically 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. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211. By 2006, the population was
35,930, with a micropolitan area population of 131,953, encompassing Lee, Pontotoc and Itawamba counties. The city is perhaps
best known as the birthplace of
History
The town was originally named Gum Pond prior to the American Civil War, supposedly due to the high number of tupelo trees, locally known as blackgum, that grow in the area. The city still hosts the Gumtree Arts Festival [2] each year. In the post-Civil War era, Tupelo became the northern Mississippi site for the crossing of a railroad, which brought industry to the town, establishing it as the center of commerce in the northern part of the state. Once the town began to grow, Gum Pond took on the name Tupelo, naming the town after the small Civil War battle that took place on the site. That site is now designated as Tupelo National Battlefield. That Battle of Tupelo was in turn named for the tupelo trees of the area. Tupelo was incorporated in 1870 with a population of 618.
Tupelo made national history in 1934 as the first city in the United States to provide its citizens with electric power through the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited this First TVA City.
Comcast Corporation, (NASDAQ: CMCSA), was founded in 1963 by Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel Aaron, Edward Rex and Julian A. Brodsky based on a recommendation from Warren "Pete" Musser, of Harrisburg,PA, who brought the deal to Ralph Roberts to buy his first cable system in Tupelo, Mississippi. The company was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1969, under the name Comcast Corporation. Comcast, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest cable company[1] and the second largest Internet service provider in the United States. Comcast now serves a total of 24.1 million cable customers, 14.1 million digital cable customers, 12.4 million high-speed internet customers, and 3.5 million voice customers. It develops broadband cable networks and is also involved in television programming content. The company employs over 90,000 people and also has corporate offices in Houston, Detroit, and Denver.
Cultural and attractions
- 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.[1]
- The 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 [1] opened on December 7, 2002, Pearl Harbor Day, and 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 the personal collection of WTVA founder Frank K. Spain.
- Tupelo Community Theatre was founded in 1969 and has produced over 200 productions. In 2001 and 2004 it was the winner of the Mississippi Theatre Association Community Theatre festival and was a winner at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in 2004 with its production of Bel Canto. TCT's home is the historic Lyric Theatre, built in 1912.
- The Tupelo Symphony Orchestra's season runs from September-April with concerts held at the Tupelo Civic Auditorium.[2] Special conductors and soloists appear regularly and the symphony also holds a free annual July 4 outdoor concert at Tupelo's Ballard Park that draws thousands of fans.
- The Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo home to hundreds of animals and a large buffalo herd.
- Tupelo's coliseum, the BancorpSouth Arena,[2] opened in 1993 and has hosted concerts by entertainers such as The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Aerosmith, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John and Creed.
- In 2005, under the leadership of the Tupelo Rotary Club, the city unveiled a statue of Chief Piomingo, a leader of the Chickasaw people, in front of the new city hall.
- Tupelo's Oren Dunn City Museum displays relics from the American Civil War Battle of Tupelo as well as Indian artifacts and NASA exhibits.
- April 2006 marked the 70th anniversary of the 1936 Tupelo Tornado, the fourth deadliest tornado in United States history and part of the Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak of tornadoes on April 5-6, 1936. Historian Martis D. Ramage, Jr.'s book, "Tupelo, Mississippi, Tornado of 1936," chronicles the devastation of the tornado, with many rare photographs.
- June 2006 was the 50th anniversary of the 1956
Elvis Presley Homecoming in Tupelo, the highlight of which was the famous 1956 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 original site of the concert, the fairgrounds, is now part of Tupelo's Fairpark District. Documentary filmmakers Roy Turner and Jim Palmer premiered their new Presley documentary, "The Homecoming: Tupelo Welcomes Elvis Home", at the 2006 festival. - Authors who have spoken at the Lee County Library's annual Helen Foster Lecture series since its inception in 1974 have included Shelby Foote, Alex Haley, John Grisham, Rick Bragg, Pat Conroy, Ernest Gaines, Willie Morris, Beverly Sills and Alice Walker.
- Built in 1937, Tupelo's beautiful 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."
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 $2.4 billion (2006).
- The city is a three-time "All-America City Award" winner and boasts one of the largest furniture manufacturing industries nationwide. 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 was the first Comcast cable system. Comcast is now the largest cable company in the world.
Demographics
As of the census
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.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, 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.
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.
Government
Tupelo's current mayor is Republican Ed Neelly. The president of the Tupelo City Council is Dick Hill.
Located in the First Congressional District of Mississippi, Tupelo has been represented in the U. S. House of Representatives since 1995 by Roger Wicker, a Tupelo Republican who was reelected in 2004 with 71% of the vote.
Media
The local daily newspaper is The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
Tupelo is home to three television stations: 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 at (34.259585, -88.725885)1, in northeast Mississippi, north of Columbus, on Highway 78 mid way between Memphis, Tennessee (northwest) and Birmingham, Alabama (southeast).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 133.2 km² (51.4 mi²). 132.4 km² (51.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (0.62%) is water.
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures | ||||||||||||
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec High °F | 77 | 84 | 85 | 93 | 94 | 101 | 105 | 106 | 103 | 92 | 87 | 79 |
| Norm High °F | 50.3 | 56 | 64.8 | 73.5 | 81 | 88 | 91.4 | 90.9 | 84.9 | 74.9 | 63 | 53.6 |
| Norm Low °F | 30.5 | 33.5 | 41.4 | 48.2 | 57.7 | 65.7 | 69.8 | 68.2 | 61.7 | 48.8 | 40 | 33.2 |
| Rec Low °F | -6 | 4 | 16 | 29 | 40 | 49 | 58 | 52 | 40 | 29 | 19 | -3 |
| Precip (in) | 5.14 | 4.68 | 6.3 | 4.94 | 5.8 | 4.82 | 3.65 | 2.67 | 3.35 | 3.38 | 5.01 | 6.12 |
| Source: USTravelWeather.com [1] | ||||||||||||
Education
The City of Tupelo is served by the Tupelo Public School District List of schools in Tupelo, Ms Carver Elementary, Church Street Elementary, M.L.King Early Childhood Education Center, Joyner Elementary, Lawhon Elementary, Lawndale Elementary, Milam Elementary, Parkway Elementary, Pierce Street Elementary, Rankin Elementary, Thomas Street Elementary, Tupelo Christian Preparatory School, Tupelo High School, Tupelo Middle School
Tupelo is also home to satellite campuses of the University of Mississippi, Itawamba Community College, and the Mississippi University for Women.
Famous people
Rockabilly singer-songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons, who had a hit in 1964 with the song "Haunted House" and wrote the Tim McGraw hit "Indian Outlaw" was born and died in Tupelo.
Newspaper publisher George McLean bought Tupelo's Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in June, 1934 and remained publisher until his death in 1983. Using his newspaper to promote the cultural development of the area, he was one of the foremost community development figures in the United States, being named "Man of the Year" in 1937 by Nation Magazine at age 34.
Tupelo native Glenn L. McCullough Jr., a sixth-generation Mississippian, was named chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors by President George W. Bush on July 19, 2001. Serving until 2005, he was the first TVA chairman from Mississippi since the John F. Kennedy era. McCullough began serving on the TVA board in 1999 following his appointment by President Bill Clinton. In 1992, he had been appointed director of the Mississippi office of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) by Governor Kirk Fordice. In June, 1997, McCullough had been elected Tupelo's 23 mayor, with 61 percent of the vote. During his administration, the genesis of the future downtown Fairpark District began as well as the rebirth and redevelopment of the Historic Downtown Tupelo Neighborhood and the city was also awarded "All-American City" status for the third time in its history.
Allie Grant (actress) - The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Controversial U.S. Congressman John E. Rankin of Tupelo served his district for sixteen terms (1921-53), co-authoring the bill to create the Tennessee Valley Authority as well as being a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
Singer Guy Hovis was born in Tupelo in 1941. In 1970, he joined his wife on the Lawrence Welk Show as one half of "Guy & Ralna," one of the show's most popular acts.
Actor John Dye (China Beach, Touched By An Angel) graduated from Tupelo High School in 1981.
Notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde spent a few days with a family in East Tupelo, across the tracks (the part of town where Elvis was born), while they attempted to elude federal and local authorities.
Tupelo was a "knock down spot", or place for hiding and relaxing for infamous State Line Mob and Dixie Mafia members like Carl Douglas "Towhead" White, Jack Hathcock, W.O. Hathcock, Kirksey Nix, and Louise Hathcock.
Singer/songwriter Paul Thorn hails from Tupelo and always introduces himself at shows as being from the birthplace of Elvis Presley.
Notes
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
Richard Pryor's Character "Mudbone" was told to be from Tupelo, Mississippi.
Rapper Justin Owens attented tupelo high school from 2005-2009 while engaged in a music career
External links
- City of Tupelo (official site)
- Tupelo Local News
- Tupelo.net Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau
- History of Tupelo's Jewish community (from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life)
- TupeloVoice.com Community Forum About Tupelo
- TupeloJoe.com Online Community for Tupelo News, Blogs, Events, and Forums
- Tupelo Automobile Museum Website
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