On July 9, our destination was Hope and De Queen.
Hope, AR.
Hope is a short drive from Texarkana by HWY 30. We found the City Hall and Auditorium where Elvis performed on February 22, 1955 rather quickly. Unfortunately, the building was closed because it was a Sunday. I was able to snap a photo after climbing the outdoor stairs to the first floor.
On February 22, 1955, Elvis was part of the WSM Grand Ole Opry tour. Elvis was sharing the bill with Mother Maybelle, The Carter Sisters, Charles Stewart, Jimmy Rogers Snow, Duke Of Paducah, and Uncle Dudley. This tour had other Arkansas performances such as in Little Rock, Camden and Pine Bluff.
Elvis returned to Hope on June 7, 1955 to play at the Fair Park Coliseum. The Hope Star did not mention the concert and according to the book "A Boy From Tupelo," the date derives from a 1955 fan magazine. The Coliseum was also closed and there were no windows to snap photos, so we left for the next destination, De Queen.
De Queen, AR.
De Queen is a small town of 6,594 people located in southwest Arkansas, and the current seat of the Sevier County.
Elvis performed at the Sevier County Fair & Rodeo on June 16, 1955 with Jim Ed and Maxine Brown on the back of a flatbed truck. The audience sat on the rodeo bleachers.
We found the Sevier County Fair & Rodeo without problems and it was well accessible for us to take some photos and we wondered what it was like on that day in 1955.
We had to go back to Texarkana and travel the next day to Tyler. More Elvis places to visit ahead.
