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Historic Loudermilk
Boarding House & Elvis Museum
 In
1902 Robert Lee Loudermilk purchased an entire block of land
in downtown Cornelia, running 300 feet along four streets:
Foreacre, Oak, Front, and Summit. In 1908 he and his wife,
Phanettia Callie Henderson, built a late Victorian country
house on Foreacre Street on the corner at Oak Street. They
turned it into a boarding house in the 1920s, after their
children had married and left home.
Robert and Callie married
in 1894 and raised six of their seven children here. Their
five-year-old daughter died of typhoid fever in 1908. Their
daughter, Lurlie, helped her mother operate the boarding house.
In 1931 Robert Lee died and Lurlie became proprietor in 1940.
After Callie's death in 1958, Lurlie continue continued to
take in boarders. Her record books list over 400 boarders.
Some stayed only one night while others stayed as long as
30 years. After almost six decades of providing room and board,
the boarding house closed its doors in 1980.
 These
days, the Loudermilk Boarding House Museum features a permanent
installation of the "Panoramic Encyclopedia of Everything
Elvis."
The proprietor, Joni
Mabe has over 30,000 pieces of Elvis art and the most famous
wart in the world that was removed from Elvis' hand.
There is a gift shop,
a history gallery and other rotating exhibits on display.
The Loudermilk Boarding
House Museum is open on Fridays and Saturdays, 10am to 5pm
from April to November, or by appointment. It's best to call
ahead and confirm day and time if you plan to visit.
Big E Festival: August
4, 2007
The festival will feature barbecue, boiled peanuts, live Elvis
impersonators, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, Moon Pies,
roasted peanuts, snowballs, tours of Everything Elvis, cold
drinks, door prizes, Elvis trivia, raffles, Elvis auction
and much more. Cash awards and prizes for Best Elvis. Museum
opens at 10am. Competition starts at 11am and ends when Elvis
leaves the building. Bring the whole family and lawn chairs.
Admission is $5. For details: 778-4654 or 778-2001.
Loudermilk Boarding
House Museum
271 Foreacre Street
Cornelia, GA
706-778-2001
website: jonimabe.com
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