On July 12th, the objectives for this day were to visit Joinerville, Henderson and retutn back to Tyler.
Joinerville, TX.
We travelled early in the morning to Joinerville. Elvis played a concert at the Gaston High School Auditorium as a part of the Tom Perryman's tour. Elvis Presley and his band entertained over 600 students in an event promoted by the High School Band. The bill included J.E & Maxine Brown in addition to Elvis
We arrived at the grounds of the still standing High School, even though they have not been used as a school for a long time. In 2017, the school grounds and buildings were being rehabilitated by a church called Church Fellowship International. According to the Longview News journal, the rehabilitation was stalled in late December of 2018, because of a lack of funds, volunteers and also family illness.
A group of volunteers were working in some adjacent buildings, and after asking them for permission to enter, they let us take some photos of the grounds and the Auditorium. Some of the buildings were in better condition than the Auditorium, but overall we could see that the years were taking a toll on these buildings.
Hopefully, the Church will find someone to help them out to bring these buildings back to where they used to be.
Henderson, TX.
Our next destination was Henderson, Texas, a little town just a few miles east of Joinerville. After visiting the Public Library and checking the Henderson Daily News, we tried to find the Rodeo Arena, where Elvis shared the bill again with J.E & Maxine Brown. This was another tour promoted by Gladewater DJ Tom Perryman in the summer of 1955.
The old Rodeo Arena where Elvis performed on August 9, 1955, is now privately owned. After a few calls, we found the location, but nature had taken over the Rodeo Arena, making almost impossible to recognize. Thanks to a very kind lady at the Rachel Moseley Insurance company, located to the north of the arena grounds, we were able to get permission from the owner to enter what seemed like Texas jungle.
There was an old chicken-wire fence all around the arena, so we were trying to find the gate to get inside. Little by little, we were finding clues that we were very close to what used to be a rodeo arena such as lighting on the ground and some still hanging, a very old building that could have been the ticket booth, so we knew the location was near.
We finally found a gate that fortunately was not locked. We were thinking by entering this area we werethe in the middle of the Rodeo Arena, But while walking into the opening, we suddenly saw another area shapped like an oval. We found the cement stands where fanfans would sit, and the fence around the the performance area was still standing. Arena with the cement stands still there and the fence around.
If we superimpose the photo we took below, with one of the ones available from the concert, we wonder if Elvis was standing right there some 70 years ago. We sat in the stands and contemplated what being in that crowd must have been like. Click the photo above to see
Tyler, TX.
We left Henderson behind and went back to Tyler. Elvis played three times in Tyler. All three were in 1955 and in the Mayfair Building. The Art Deco Mayfair Building was constructed in the late 1920s by the city of Tyler to serve as a multipurpose venue. Besides Elvis, the list of famous entertainers and singers that appeared at the Mayfair is exhaustive, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Bo Diddley and many more.
After Tyler, we travelled to Dallas.
