Tennessee Williams Boyhood Home - Columbus, Mississippi

Tennessee Williams Birthplace & Boyhood Home
Columbus, Mississippi

The famed American writer Tennessee Williams was born in this Victorian home in Columbus, Mississippi. The house today serves as the city's official welcome center.

Tennessee Williams was born as Thomas Lanier Williams on October 26, 1911. His grandfather, Rev. Walter Dakin, was rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Columbus and his daughter and son-in-law were then living in the rectory as well. Thought to have been built in around 1875, the charming and colorful Victorian home served as home for the future playwright and writer for three years.

The Pulitzer Prize winning writer lived here for 3 years.

Adopting the name Tennessee, Williams of course went on to write two Pulitzer Prize winning plays, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar Named Desire." He noted in a letter to his grandfather once that much of his writing was based on Columbus, Mississippi. Scholars also agree that he relied heavily on his own family for the characters in his plays and books.

Columbus is unique in that it has had close associations with two Pulitzer Prize winners. Novelist Eudora Welty attended what is now Mississippi University for Women (lovingly called the "W") in Columbus. She received a Pulitzer in 1973 for The Optimist's Wife.

When the Tennessee Williams Birthplace was threatened with demolition in 1993, the community came together and the home was relocated to 300 Main Street in the city and beautifully restored to its 1911 appearance. It is now open to the public and has been designated a Literary Landmark by the Friends of Libraries, U.S.A.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/tennesseewilliams.

Birthplace of Elvis Presley - Tupelo, Mississippi

This small wood-frame home was the birthplace of Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll."

The Tupelo, Mississippi, house was built in 1934 by Vernon Presley, Elvis' father, and the future music legend was born here one year later in 1935. The house cost $180 to build, a significant sum in the Depression-era South and economic hard times forced the family to give up the little structure when Elvis was only one year old.

The structure is now the centerpiece of a very nice memorial park and historic site in Tupelo. In addition to the birthplace house, the park features a statue of Elvis as a boy, a museum and a memorial chapel. There are also numerous other sites in Tupelo with a connection to Elvis Presley. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/natchezelvis.

Osceola - Part One

This is a view of a casting prepared from the actual face of the Seminole war leader Osceola at the time of his death in 1838. It is located in the display area of the visitor center at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville, Florida.

It is a haunting view of the man that emerged as one of the most noted Native American figures of the 19th century.

Osceola was born in the Creek Nation of present-day Alabama in around 1804. Different claims have been made as to his actual place of birth. Some sources hold that he was born among the Lower Creeks on the Chattahoochee River, while others state that his birth took place among the Upper Creeks on the Tallapoosa River.

It should be noted that he would not have been called by his later name at this time. What his childhood name was is not known, although he was often called Billy Powell by the whites.

There also has been debate as to whether his father was a white trader or a Native American warrior. The use of the Powell name by whites to refer to Osceola prompted speculation that he descended from a trader of that name operating in the Creek Nation at the time of his birth.

Because his mother by 1818 was known to have been part of the band of Peter McQueen, a refugee chief from Tallassee on the Tallapoosa River, it appears likely that Osceola was born among the Upper Creeks.

As to the heritage of his father, Osceola himself stated during his lifetime that his father was Creek, not white. Testing of an alleged sample of his hair revealed that the great Seminole may have had mixed ancestry, but this does not necessarily mean he descended from a white father. His mother was a member of the McQueen family. The McQueens, including the chief Peter McQueen, were descended from the Scottish trader James McQueen that had lived among the Creeks for many decades and had married a Creek woman.

By 1813, Peter McQueen and many of his followers from Tallassee had joined the Red Stick movement of the Creek Prophet, Josiah Francis (Hillis Hadjo). When the Red Sticks concentrated at the Holy Ground town on the Alabama River between the modern towns of Montgomery and Selma, it is likely that Osceola and his mother were among them. This was believed to be a place of security where women and children would be protected while the Prophet's warriors engaged American armies in the Creek War of 1813-1814.

Holy Ground was attacked and destroyed by Mississippi Territorial Militia late in 1813, although most of the Red Stick warriors and noncombatants escaped across the Alabama River.

By the summer of 1814, Peter McQueen and his followers had fled south into Spanish Florida in search of food and arms. They were supplied there by British forces then engaged in fighting the United States in the War of 1812. McQueen was reported in several locations in 1814-1815, including Pensacola and then a British fort on the Apalachicola River. By the end of 1815, he and his followers had settled among the Seminoles then living in the area around present-day Tallahassee.

Assuming that Osceola and his mother stayed with the rest of Peter McQueen's followers through this time period, then their movements can be traced by following McQueen's. This means they would have followed him south to Pensacola and eventually into the Tallahassee area. It is known they were there by the time of the First Seminole War in 1817-1818.

Our series on the life of the Seminole leader Osceola will continue.

Spring Travel Part Nine: Elvis Presley Birthplace

Continuing our series on some of my favorite spring travel destinations in the South, this is the birthplace of Elvis Presley in Tupelo, Mississippi.

The little frame home, constructed by Presley's father, is now part of a memorial park in Tupelo. Other features are a museum, memorial chapel, fountain and statue of Elvis during his boyhood.

The "King of Rock and Roll" was born here on January 8, 1935 and spent his childhood years in the house. It was here in Tupelo that he learned to play the guitar and developed his unique musical style.

The Elvis Presley Birthplace gives visitors a chance to learn about the humble roots of the man who changed music forever. It also provides a fascinating look into life in the South during the 1930s.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/MSTupelo1.

Birthplace of Elvis Presley - Tupelo, Mississippi

This little frame house in Tupelo, Mississippi, was the birthplace of American music legend and "King of Rock and Roll" Elvis Presley.

Located at 306 Elvis Presley Drive, the home and adjacent museum and memorial park is open daily and is one of the most popular historic attractions in northern Mississippi.

The home was built by Elvis' father, Vernon Presley, for a total cost of $180. Elvis was born here on January 8, 1935, and lived here for much of his early life. He learned to play guitar and performed for the first time here in Tupelo, a city that celebrates his life with numerous sites related to his boyhood and career.

In addition to his birthplace, the memorial park includes a museum with numerous exhibits on Elvis' life, a memorial chapel and a nicely designed monument of Elvis as a boy.

To learn more about the Elvis Presley Birthplace, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com and scroll down to the Index section and look for the link under "Mississippi."