Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the detail.
A 1939 house, the man who made it famous and a landmark of American music offer several ways into the story of Graceland.
On this page
A Colonial Revival house
Ruth and Thomas Moore built Graceland in 1939 on land that had been Graceland Farms, named after Ruth’s aunt Grace Toof. The architects Furbringer and Ehrman gave it a columned portico and stone façade in the Colonial Revival style.
Elvis Presley bought the house in 1957 and lived there for twenty years, adding the fieldstone wall, the music gate, the Jungle Room and the Meditation Garden.
A landmark of rock music
In 1991 Graceland became the first site listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to rock music, and in 2006 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
It welcomed about 600,000 visitors in 2024, making it one of the most visited houses in the United States.
A place of remembrance
Elvis Presley died at Graceland on 16 August 1977 and is buried in the Meditation Garden with members of his family. Many visitors come to pay their respects there.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
