Today Graceland is one of the most visited former private residences in the world. Each year about 600,000 visitors pass through Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis. For 20 years, though, the gates to the mansion were rarely opened to outsiders. When Elvis lived there, it was his refuge from a world that couldn’t seem to leave him alone.
What follows is a brief chronicle of Graceland in 1957, when Elvis purchased the estate, built stone walls around it, remodeled it to his liking, and brought his parents to live there. This story has been compiled from 1957 newspaper archives, along with some dates and information from Elvis Day By Day by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen.
