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The 13.8 acre estate and large white-columned mansion that was once the home to Elvis Presley is located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.  The official name for this mansion is "Graceland."  Graceland became an historical landmark on March 27, 2006.  The home's location is south of Downtown Memphis and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border.  Currently, the Graceland Mansion serves as a museum.

Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion on August 16, 1977.  His parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother are all buried there in what is called the "Meditation Gardens."

Elvis died in his bathroom at Graceland allegedly of a heart attack as according to one medical examiner report at the time.  However, there are many conflicting reports as to the cause of his death.   Elvis was so loved that many people today still believe it is possible he is alive "somewhere."  One report was that he had thrown up after being stricken while seated on the toilet.  It looked as if he stumbled or crawled several feet before he died and that drug use was heavily implicated in the unanticipated death of a middle-aged man with no known history of heart disease.  It was never ruled out the possibility of anaphylactic shock brought on by the codeine pills he had gotten from his dentist either. 

Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley was visiting Graceland the day he died.  She was nine years old at the time.  After the death of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley served as executor of his estate.  The upkeep on Graceland cost $500,000 per year.  The expenses dwindled Elvis's and Priscilla's daughter, Lisa Marie's inheritance to $5 million.  After examining other famous house/museums, Priscilla hired a CEO to turn Graceland into a moneymaker.  She was the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises.  Quickly after Graceland opened to the public in 1982, the enterprise's fortune soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million.  Graceland is now the second most visited private residence in the United States.  The White House is the first.

History of Graceland

Graceland grounds was originally owned by S.E. Toof, publisher of the Memphis newspaper, "The Memphis Daily Appeal."  The portion of land designated as Graceland today was given to Ruth Moore who had the present American "colonial" style mansion built.  Elvis Presley purchased the Graceland Mansion in early 1957 for approximately $150,000 after leaving an East Memphis house located at 1034 Audubon Drive.  Vernon and Gladys Presley, Elvis's parents, moved with him into Graceland.  After his mother died in 1958, his father married Dee Stanley in 1960.  The couple lived in Graceland for a time.  Priscilla Beaulieu, wife-to-be for Elvis, also lived at Graceland for five years before she married Elvis.  After their marriage in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967, Priscilla lived in Graceland five more years until she separated from Elvis in late 1972.

Elvis did not get along with step-mother

Elvis's father, Vernon apparently settled down with Dee, his second wife and step-mother to Elvis where Gladys, Elvis's mother, had once reigned.  When Elvis was away, Dee had taken over the role of mistress of Graceland so much so as to rearrange the furniture and replace the curtains that Gladys had approved of.  Elvis was outraged by this.  He loved his mother very much and wanted things kept as she had them.  One afternoon, a van arrived and a crew took out all Dee's household's goods, clothes, improvements, and her own menagerie of pets and loaded them all on the van while Vernon, Dee and her three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive tht ran along side Elvis's estate.

Tourist Destination of Today

An annual procession through the estate and past Elvis's grave is held on the anniversary of his death in all kinds of weather.  The Graceland grounds include a museum containing many Elvis artifacts such as famous Vegas jumpsuits, awards, gold records, the Lisa Marie jetliner and Elvis's extensive auto collection.  New attractions include Elvis Presley After Dark and Elvis 56 that can be found on the plaza.

Tours of the museum at Graceland are available.  The upper floor is not open to visitors, partially to avoid any improper focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death.  The upper floor also contains Elvis's bedroom that has been untouched since the day Elvis died.

Plan a Trip to Graceland

Throughout the pages of this web site you will find some helpful information to help you plan your trip to the Graceland Mansion.

Navigation of the Site

Use the menu bar to your left and at the bottom of each page to navigate easily through the site.

Important Disclaimer:  This web site is not associated with the National Historic Landmark of Graceland Mansion or any of Graceland Mansion's employees.  The purpose of this web site is to serve as a "trip planning" resource.

Elvis Presley is known best by the many songs that he sang, however, he was also a very big fan of animals.  Elvis had many kinds of pets.  He had horses, peacocks, and a chimpanzee named Scatter and before he became famous, he was known as the “Hillbilly Cat,” in his hometown.

The song “Hound Dog” was written by two teenagers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller on the back of a paper bag.  The song was originally written for blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton.  Her version was slow, country blues and  along with some different lyrics than the version Elvis heard in Las Vegas.  Elvis Presley wanted to record the song when he heard Freddie Bell and the Bellboys’ Vegas version.

Elvis performed the song “Hound Dog” on a television variety show in 1956.  He changed its style and let the rhythm drive the song rather than the lyrics.  There were over 40 million people viewing that performance.  The television network that aired the show received complaints about the way Elvis moved his body while singing.  The television critics said Elvis Presley had no talent (that was a lie).  Worse than this was that he was a bad influence on the children (this is not true either) and vicious rumors spread about him (he was just too much of a good thing and his critics were probably jealous). 

The next time Elvis appeared on national television he again sang “Hound Dog,” but this time he sang to a basset hound dog wearing a top hat.  It was said by some that he did not really want to do that and that he felt humiliated singing to a dog.  Can you imagine?  I vote for the first performance where it let the rhythm drive the song!  

Elvis had to stand still behind the microphone in the studio while he recorded the song because of the type of recording technology available in 1956.  Elvis, as we all know today, had a much different performing style.  He liked to move around while singing and a lot of us liked to watch him move around just as well.  The girls were fainting and believe me had I been there, I probably would have fainted as well.  My heart always beat twice as fast when I heard Elvis sing or saw him performing.   

At first, the songwriters did not like Elvis’s version of “Hound Dog,” but as they got to know him better, they realized just how much he knew about music and they respected his style.  His version of “Hound Dog” became a number one hit, and was also one of the 10 greatest jukebox hits of all time.  “Don’t Be Cruel” was on the other side of the record.  This single was the first record to top all three Billboard charts:  Popular, country and western, and rhythm and blues.  It sold over 4 million copies in the United States when first released.

Elvis went onto to record around two dozen more songs by Leiber and Stoller, one of which was the famous “Jailhouse Rock.”  I can still hear the words going over in my head now, “and dancing to the Jailhouse Rock.”   What a dynamic performer Elvis Presley was in his day and time.  In my opinion, there has been no match.

When Elvis sang “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” in his second movie, Loving You, he received hundreds of teddy bears from his adoring fans.  He tried to keep everything he received from his fans; however, there were just too many teddy bears.  He gave truckloads away to children in Memphis Hospitals and childcare centers (Elvis had a big, loving heart).  Throughout our country, various organizations still collect teddy bears to donate to children in Elvis’s name.  The True Fans for Elvis Fan Club holds an annual auction to raise money to buy teddy bears to give to children. 

Elvis’s teddy bear Mabel was once kept in a museum exhibit and guarded by guard dogs, however, those guard dogs for unknown reasons, went on a rampage and shredded hundreds of the teddy bears to bits, including poor, poor Mabel.  The dogs were fired from their guard job (which was expected) and Mabel, the Teddy Bear, once considered the most valuable Teddy Bear of all, is no more.

The song “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear” was written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe and became a number one hit in 1957.

Source:  Lopata, P. (2008, May). Elvis Goes to the Animals. Faces (07491387), 24(2), 6. Retrieved July 31, 2008, from MAS Ultra - School Edition database.

Written by:  Connie Limon  For more Arts and Entertainment articles visit http://smalldogs2.com/ArtsandEntertainment  You might also want to stop by http://smalldogs2.com/ElvisPresleyGraceland