Houston, TX: Magnolia Gardens

Address: 12044 Beach St, Houston, TX, 77044

Status: Open, now Magnolia Gardens Park

Elvis Dates:

May 22, 1955

August 7, 1955

I Visited On: November 2022

My experience

First of all, if you plan of going, at least on a week day, I greatly suggest bringing someone with you and bringing a weapon or two, not that there is any real danger, I, personally, just felt very unsettled while being there. During the weekends, the park is supposedly packed and reviews of the area suggest that, but if you go in the middle of the week, like I did, the park feels less than safe. It is in a heavily wooded area in the middle of nowhere and the park is really rundown. I also advise that you go to the bathroom before visiting the park, because all they have are porta potties, although there are certainly plenty of those.

While I was in the park, I felt very unsettled and unsafe. Again, this is my experience during a weekday when I was the only one there, but there was no one at the gate when I arrived. After a minute of slowly driving around, trying to find my bearings, 2 guys drove up to my car in a golf cart and told me there was an entry fee of $10 cash and I could just pay them right then and there. Super odd. Reviews I'd found of the park from a couple years ago, said there was an entry fee of $10 cash, but again, where they were/how they asked was unusual.

If you do plan on visiting, also be aware that you have to park near the gate, but the stage where Elvis performed is on the other side of the park and is a 10-15 minute walk one-way. Just plan ahead, timing-wise, and don't go into it thinking you'll be in-and-out. Plan for your time in the park to take about 30 minutes, if you're just there to see the stage.

Overall, the stage is definitely a recreation, and although it is cool to be in the place that gave us the first ever footage of Elvis performing, I'd stick to just looking at the photos I've provided and moving on to the next Elvis site on your list. If you do really want to visit, it's probably best to do so on a weekend in a warm month, when people say it's actually fairly busy.

Elvis at magnolia gardens

During his time in Houston, Elvis performed at Magnolia Gardens a couple of times with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, the first time being on May 22, 1955, when he performed at the park in the afternoon, then went to Cook's Hoedown Club for another performance that very evening. But when he came back later that year, on August 7, 1955, something happened by chance that gave us the earliest footage of Elvis Presley performing. That afternoon, Jim and Lois Robertson were testing out their new 8mm color camera. At that time, no one really knew of Elvis and Lois only remembers about 20-25 people being in the audience. She filmed part of the performance and when the color film was developed, the family watched the video a couple of times and then put it away for later.

Magnolia Gardens was a popular music venue in the 50s and 60s, and in its day, it hosted Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. It's right next to the San Jacinto River in Houston, Texas. In its heyday, it had an outdoor stage/bandstand and dance floor with plenty of seating.

Pictures from May 22, 1955

Pictures from August 7, 1955

The recent pictures were taken by me on November 30, 2022.

Please, credit me if you use my photos.