Tupelo [key], city (1990 pop. 30,685), seat of Lee co., NE Miss.; founded 1859, inc. 1870. It is the trade, processing, and shipping center for a cotton, grain, dairying, and livestock area. Once important for timber, the city is named after the tupelo, or black gum, tree. Dairy products, furniture, lighting fixtures, corrugated partitions, tires, and wood- and metalworking machinery are produced, and there is poultry processing. A U.S. fish hatchery is there. On the Civil War battlefield of Tupelo, now a national battlefield (see National Parks and Monuments, tablenational parks and monuments, table), Union troops repulsed an attack by Gen. N. B. Forrest (July 14, 1864) but nevertheless retreated. Nearby is the scene of a victory of Chickasaw and British forces over the Choctaw and French (May 26, 1736). Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo; his home is a tourist attraction. Tombigbee and Trace state parks, the Natchez Trace Parkway visitor center, and Native American mound sites are in the vicinity.
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