Not that Wikepidia is the leading authority on the topic, but here is their take: Birthplace of Rock and Roll

"It is a little-known fact that music scholars consider Hattiesburg to be the historic birthplace of rock and roll. [weasel words] As noted in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, Hattiesburg was a recording location of Blind Roosevelt Graves and his brother, Uaroy Graves, who, along with piano player Cooney Vaughn, recorded two songs in 1936 that "...featured fully formed rock & roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock & roll beat." The Graves Brothers and Vaughn--performing as the Mississippi Jook Band--recorded the songs 'Barbecue Bust' and 'Dangerous Woman' for the American Record Company, reportedly at the Hattiesburg Train Station."

Who knows why no museum was built or even some kind of promotion celebrating this prominent event? It stumps me. Maybe it was not by which the small but growing conservative hamlet wanted to be remembered. I was not even aware until I had been gone a decade or more. Though the local library there now has books and documentation on it, many residents claim not to agree, that it is a fictional story.

Though Mississippi might not seem the logical place for roots of such music, just ten years after this claim, a young singer named Elvis evolved not far from Hattiesburg. He was from Tupelo, a town that is quite proud of him and his music. People simply called him "Elvis". History says Elvis was always a mannerdly soul who was reluctantly lured into such celebrity, but actually enjoyed "the creative process" much more than the fame and fortune, which, of couse, added much stress, that led to his final days.

But why shouldn't Mississippi be the birthplace of such a creative endeavor. It also brought us Elvis, also gave us B.B. King, John Grisham, William Faulkner, Willie Morris, and numerous other legendary greats in the poorest and least educated part of the United States.