Some caching Around Tupelo 4/20/2008

We left this morning to finish the last of the caches around Tupelo and do a little sightseeing, as little as there was to see here. Our first cache was at a local park that had several fields and a swimming pool, next was a cache located close to an elementary school, next was another cache located in a small park, then on into downtown for a cache at a caboose on display near the old railroad station, and our last cache of the day was located in another small park along one of the main roads.
Then we drove around downtown to see if there really was any history in Tupelo. We saw several old churches that were very lovely, the Tupelo Courthouse which had another Confederate States Civil War Memorial Monument outside it, and we saw the Lyric Theater which was built in 1912 originally as a vaudeville theater. Because it was built so well and strong it escaped the tragic tornado they had in Tupelo in 1936. At that time it was used as a make shift mortuary and after that was used for live productions till the 1930's. Then it was turned into a movie house and was used as such until 1984 when it was scheduled for demolition. It was snatched from the wrecking ball and again turned into a place for live theater. The remodeled the theater with new lighting, sound system, heating, air conditioning, wiring and lobby. Friends and supporters have raised over $750,000 for the restoration over the years and it is still used today fro live productions.
The Tupelo Tornado, the fourth deadliest tornado in United States history, slammed into Tupelo, Mississippi at around 8:30 P.M. It was an F5 on the Fujita scale, causing total destruction along its path. Fortunately, the tornado missed the downtown business district. The tornado moved through the residential areas of Tupelo, destroying many homes, and killing whole families who had little or no warning. A very young Elvis Presley and his mother were two of the survivors. When the death toll of 216 was announced, over 100 people had been hospitalized in three states. The final death toll was set at 233 (not necessarily including African-American deaths, who were frequently excluded from death tolls until the 1950s).
That was about it as far as historical site so we drove back to the RV and had lunch, Mom did the logs and I am doing the blog before dinner. We watched a movie and I watched the Red Wings-Predators hockey game and the basketball game. Almost time for dinner so we will say until tomorrow and we love you and miss you all.


Picture List:1-Downtown Tupelo, 2-Tupelo Oil & Ice Circa 1899, 3-Tupelo Courthouse Circa 1904, 4-CSA Memorial Monument, 5-Statue outside Courthouse, 6-Covenant Coffee House, 7,8-Reed's Gum Tree Bookstore Circa 1904 and the side of the building with these designs on it, 9-Frisco RR Caboose, 10-Lyric Theater, 11,12-First Presbyterian Church, 13-First United Methodist Church, 14-First Baptist Church.