Carl Perkins was born in Tiptonville on April 9, 1932, to Buck and Louise Perkins, sharecroppers who worked cotton on land they did not own. From the age of six he worked the fields with his family. He was Sun Records' first certified million-selling artist, and "Blue Suede Shoes" is his signature song. The visitor center is a refurbished caboose, which also houses the area chamber of commerce, and it holds photographs of Perkins, his friends and his family, plus a jukebox loaded with his records and those of other artists of his era. The Perkins family's boyhood home was moved next door; ask at the center about access.
The sound of Perkins's music did not come from one place. He grew up hearing Southern gospel from white neighbors in church and from Black field workers and sharecroppers in the cotton rows, and Saturday nights meant the Grand Ole Opry on his father's radio. He also learned from John Westbrook, an African American field hand in his sixties who played blues and gospel on an old guitar and told him to get down close to it and let it vibrate.
A 2.5-mile walking and cycling trail, built with state tourism money, runs from Highway 78 to a riverfront park overlooking the Mississippi. The center also has maps and information for Reelfoot Lake, a few miles east.
The closest stops worth working into your route
Roadside plaques and monuments within a short detour