TUPELO

city, seat (1866) of Lee county, northeastern Mississippi, U.S. It is located 63 miles (101 km) north-northeast of Columbus. It is the headquarters and focal point of the Natchez Trace Parkway. In 1859 the original settlement of Harrisburg was moved 2 miles (3 km) east to the Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Railroad line. The new community, Gum Pond, was later renamed Tupelo for the local tupelo trees that supplied construction timber. It developed as a processing and shipping centre for cotton and dairy produce and later acquired diversified manufactures including textiles, electronic equipment, and furniture. Within the city limits is Tupelo National Battlefield, where the Confederates under Nathan B. Forrest and Stephen D. Lee were contained by A.J. Smith's Federal troops (July 1415, 1864) during the American Civil War. Also in the vicinity are Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site (June 10, 1864, where the Federals were defeated by Forrest); the Ackia Battleground National Monument (marking the spot where the Chickasaw Indians and the British defeated the Choctaws and French in 1736); Tombigbee State Park; and a U.S. fish hatchery. Disaster struck the city on April 5, 1936, when a tornado killed 201 people and injured 1,000. The rock and roll star Elvis Presley (193577) was born in Tupelo, and his house is open to the public. Inc. 1891. Pop. (1990) 30,685.