The Clarksdale Civic Auditorium was completed in 1939 as a New Deal WPA project, and although I have not found any exterior photos contemporary to Elvis' time, the building is remarkably well-preserved and looks pretty much like it when Elvis arrived in 1955. Although Bill E. Burk's Early Elvis: The Sun Years references a Clarksdale performance sometime in late 1954, I have not found anything to substantiate this, and the ad shown below from the January 12th Clarksdale Press-Register indicates this was Elvis' "first time in the Delta".
Although this was likely Elvis' first time in Clarksdale, he did already have a connection to the legendary Delta Blues town. Arthur Crudup began his music career in Clarksdale, and it was he who in 1946 first recorded That's All Right, which was released as That's All Right Mama in 1949.
The Clarksdale Press-Register ran an article about the upcoming show and "country music star" Elvis Presley on the 10th, and on the 10th and 11th included an advertisement showing Elvis, Scotty, and Bill in their now-famous publicity photo. Scotty and Bill are wearing their Starlite Wranglers shirts, but with Elvis they'd catapulted themselves well ahead of Saturday nights at the Bon Air Club.
Time appears to have stood inside the Clarksdale Auditorium, and little has changed except the addition of a sculpture outside commemorating Elvis' time in the Delta.
Sources:
Early Elvis: The Sun Years by Bill E. Burk
Elvis Presley In Concert
Elvis Presley In Concert
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