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Graceland is the name of the 13.8-acre
(56,000 m2) estate and large white-columned mansion,
located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis,
Tennessee. It is located in South Memphis' vast
Whitehaven community about twelve miles (19 km) from
Downtown and less than four miles (6 km) north of the
Mississippi border. It currently serves as a museum. It
was opened to the public in 1982, was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991
and declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27,
2006.
Elvis Presley, who died at the estate on August 16,
1977, his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his
grandmother, are buried there in what is called the
Meditation Gardens.
Graceland was originally owned by S. E. Toof, publisher
of the Memphis newspaper, the Memphis Daily Appeal. The
grounds were named after Toof's daughter, Grace, who
would come to inherit the farm. Soon after, the portion
of the land designated as Graceland today was given to a
niece, Ruth Moore, who, in 1939 together with her
husband Dr. Thomas Moore, had the present American
"colonial" style mansion built.
Elvis purchased Graceland in early 1957 for
approximately $100,000 after vacating an East Memphis
house located at 1034 Audubon Drive. He moved because of
privacy and security concerns, and the opposition of
neighbors to the enthusiastic behavior of the many fans
who slowly cruised by his home. Elvis moved into
Graceland together with his father Vernon Presley and
his mother Gladys. After Gladys died in 1958, and Vernon
married Dee Stanley in 1960, the couple lived there for
a time. Wife-to-be Priscilla Beaulieu also lived at
Graceland for five years before she and Elvis married.
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.
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