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D o y o u k n o w t h a t
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Mrs. Virginia Grant, the relator (real estate agent) that sold Graceland to Elvis afterwards wrote a booklet of the transaction. Here's the short version; Mrs. Grant accidentally met with Gladys outside one of Memphis' major department stores, Lowenstein's East, Feb. 11th 1957. When she walked out of the store she noticed "the most gorgeous pink Cadillac I have ever seen". After learning that it's Gladys sitting inside "this beautiful vehicle" she raps on the closed window to get her attention and they start to chat. Gladys learn that Mrs. Grant is in fact a relator, who remarks, "I heard that you folks would be interested in finding a good farm". Gladys said this was untrue but they actually would like to find a few acres with a big house somewhere out of town. Grant then said that she had a nice seven-acre site. But as Gladys and Vernon (who was inside the store when Grant talked with Gladys) was leaving that very day for LA to visit with Elvis they would instead welcome any referrals when they got back home again. Then on Saturday the week after Vernon calls her and he wants to see the house she had talked about. After the party (Grant, Vernon and Gladys) arrives at the site, Grant detects only a vague interest and writes in her booklet, "I had made the error of showing them property of a much lesser value than they expected to buy. Fortunately for me I discovered my mistake immediately...". Gladys then asks her, "Don't you have anything to show us with a Colonial home?". Although the Graceland listing was with another relator, and the fact that Mrs. Grant had never even been in the house, that's what she suggested, "Oh yes, on Highway 51 South as you approach Whitehaven Plaza, there is the most beautiful Colonial mansion which a friend of mine has for sale - it's thirteen beautiful acres too". Gladys wanted to see the house that very day, and loved it, as did Vernon. By 6 pm. Mrs. Grant had their offer, contingent on the approval of Elvis, not later than 8 pm. the following Monday. When Monday came Elvis showed up early, and slowly walked through Graceland for the first time and sat down with the piano. He got up and remarked, "This place sure needs a lot of work done on it". Mrs. Grant's heart sank. Then he continued, "This is going to be a lot nicer than Red Skelton's house when I get it like I want it". Mrs. Grant's heart soared. Elvis was ready to sign, and he wanted to close the deal as soon as possible. The story was also, as I understand it, well covered in Memphis Press-Scimitar with daily coverage of the house buying for almost a week. Elvis told the reporter; "I want the darkest blue there is for my room, with a mirror that will cover one side of the room. I probably will have a black bedroom suit, trimmed in white leather, with a white rug". He also said he intended to have a hi-fi receiver in every room and that he wanted the entrance hall painted to resemble the sky with clouds on the ceiling and dozens of tiny lights for stars. Gladys commented, "I think I'm going to like this new home", while Vernon complained, "We just had the old place fixed up like we wanted it, now we have to start all over again...". Elvis also remarked on the basement bathrooms were marked "Boys" and "Girls", and that he thought that the first thing the house needed was a swimming pool on the south side of the house with a large sunken patio leading up to the pool. He also said that he wanted a six-foot stone fence across the front and up the sides of the property, (the wall also made it easy for Gladys to have her chickens again, and to hang out washing behind Graceland as it was not so easy for fans to grab the clothes with the fence). Elvis also noted the house had garage place for only four cars... Elvis and his parents moved into Graceland in late April of 1957.
Graceland, Before Elvis
By Michael Lollar, Memphis Commercial Appeal Thursday, January 8, 2009 Ruth Cobb is one of the few people outside Elvis Presley's family to visit the upstairs of Graceland. It was before it opened as a tourist attraction, and Cobb, who lived there before Elvis, soon learned her old upstairs bedroom had been turned into a music room. Cobb visited in 1967 at the invitation of Elvis' grandmother, and later when the Presley family planned to turn the home into a tourist attraction. It reminded Cobb of her own music career and left her slightly quizzical about a few decorating changes. Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal
Charles and Ruth Cobb, who were residents of Graceland, show a photograph of Ruth's father, surgeon Thomas D. Moore, with one of the family's registered polled herefords at Graceland Barn, taken in the 1950s.
"We did not have a jungle room growing up," she says. There was also no fabric on the ceiling of the billiard room in her day. "We didn't have a billiard room," she says.
Other distinctive touches added during Elvis' ownership of Graceland drew little attention from Cobb, but there was one: "Elvis didn't like the chandelier we had in the dining room. It came from New Orleans. He put up some garish thing." As part of this week's observations of Elvis' birthday, Graceland is celebrating its 70th anniversary, and mementos of its early years are part of a new tour. Cobb, 82, and her husband, retired lawyer Charles Cobb, 86, married in 1948. She had grown up at Graceland as an only child. When she married Charles Cobb, they remained at Graceland with her parents at first while Ruth toured the country as part of a professional harp ensemble. She would later become harpist for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra from 1953 to 1973. Her father, Dr. Thomas Moore, was a prominent surgeon and urologist. Her mother, Ruth Brown Moore, was a volunteer who enjoyed club work and became president of the Tennessee Association of Garden Clubs. They built Graceland in 1939, naming it for Ruth's great aunt, Grace Toof, who had left the farm to Ruth's grandmother. The grandmother divided her 520-acre farm into three parts, leaving it to her three children. Two of them sold their shares to Ruth's father. The house on 20 acres began as what Ruth Cobb calls "just a comfortable country home." It would become as familiar to America as Tara, Scarlett O'Hara's home in "Gone With the Wind," and it would rival Monticello, Mount Vernon and other once-private homes among the biggest tourist attractions in the country. There, Ruth's father taught her to shoot well enough that she once downed three geese with a single shot. He also taught her to fish in a 25-acre manmade lake behind the house. But her first love was music. Ruth played the piano, but she loved the harp, studying, then touring with one of the world's leading harpists, Carlos Salzedo. Her favorite music was classical, but Ruth says she liked all music from country to Elvis' music. "I wasn't really crazy about his music, but my mother marveled at his hymns," she says. When her mother decided the property was more than she wanted to keep up, she asked Ruth and Charles if they would like to stay. "We just didn't have time to take care of a big house," says Charles. "It cost $1,000 a month to keep it up. The yard alone was like trying to take care of a golf course. We had a yard man who worked two to three days a week." When the property was put up for sale, Ruth said there were three potential buyers -- Sears Roebuck Co.; a private party who wanted to turn it into an exclusive restaurant, and Elvis. By then, most of the surrounding land had been sold to developers for a subdivision, and the lake behind the house had been drained. Ruth says a church, Graceland Christian Church, wanted to buy 5 acres on the northwest corner of the property. Sears and the restaurant interests did not want to split the 5 acres off for the church, but Elvis said he would be glad to have a church next door, she says. That helped seal the deal. Elvis bought the property for $102,000 in 1957. When the church next door, Graceland Christian Church, eventually decided to move, the Presley family bought back the land and turned the church into the headquarters of Elvis Presley Enterprises. Ruth and Charles built their own home in Coro Lake and later moved to Central Gardens before retiring to Trezevant Manor. Charles met Elvis during the closing on the sale of Graceland, but Ruth never met him. She has since returned to Graceland as a tourist with her grandchildren. "I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it didn't feel like home," she says.
In March of 1957 Elvis' parents Vernon and Gladys Presley were looking for a larger and more private home than the one they and Elvis were living in on Audubon Drive. They found Graceland on what was then the outskirts of south Memphis. When Elvis returned from filming "Loving You", he went to see Graceland and also fell in love with it.
They put down a $1,000 deposit on March 19, 1957 and finalized the purchase on March 25th, paying a total of $102,500 for 13.8 acres of land and the 10,000 square foot home. Renovations soon began, including the building of the stone wall around the property and the installation of the musical-themed iron gates. (With Elvis' additions the house has 17,552 square feet of living space under the roof today. This does not include any outbuildings such as Vernon's office or the racquetball building.) Vernon and Gladys, along with Elvis' grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, moved in on May 16, 1957 while Elvis was still in Hollywood filming "Jailhouse Rock".
Elvis purchased the home from Mrs. Ruth Brown Moore. Her grandfather was S.C. Toof, a Memphis businessman and founder of a printing firm established in Memphis in 1864. S.C.'s daughter, Grace Toof Ward, originally purchased 323 acres in Whitehaven in 1894. Grace's mother Mary B. Toof purchased an additional 157 adjoining acres in 1901. This 480 acres of land remained in the family and was undeveloped. It was used for parties and outings. It ran from what then was Hernando Road (today's Elvis Presley Boulevard) east to Millbranch and from Raines Road north to the then S.N. Ford land, which started at about what today is called Winchester Road. In 1939, Ruth Toof Brown, sister to Grace, and her husband Battle Manassas Brown were the owners of the land. (At this writing we do not know what happened to Grace and why she had no heirs.) They divided it up between their three children, Ruth Brown Moore, Stephan Toof Brown and Richard Bates Brown. Richard and his wife sold their 1/3 to Stephen, while Ruth retained her 1/3 which amounted to 158.45 acres in the northernmost section of this land. Ruth Brown Moore and her husband Dr. Thomas D. Moore built Graceland Mansion and named it and the cattle farm they have as Graceland Farms in honor of her Aunt Grace. The architects were Max Furbringer and Merrill Ehrman. The builder was Robert Crouch.
Ruth Brown Moore was a Memphis socialite. She attended Wellesley and Smith College in Massachusetts and traveled abroad. She was a member of historical and antiquities organizations, the Symphony League, book clubs and garden clubs. Dr. Thomas D. Moore was a professor of urology at UT College of Medicine and president of staff at Baptist Memorial Hospital in 1949, as well as head of the urology department at John Gaston Hospital. He was also the first president of the Mid-South Hereford Breeder Association which was organized in 1940. Dr. and Mrs. Moore were married in 1925 and divorced in 1952. They had a daughter, Ruth Moore Cobb, who was a harpist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Cobb was about twelve years old when her parents started building Graceland. What is now the living room was her music room and her harp was a prominent feature of that room. What Elvis called the music room was then a sun porch utilizing the french doors on both sides. In the basement, what Elvis turned into the pool room was Mrs. Cobb's library where she studied her school work.
After Dr. and Mrs. Moore divorced, Mrs. Moore allowed a local church group to use her property for gatherings until they could build a church on the adjoining land. (The congregation eventually left that building, which was purchased by Graceland/EPE in the late 1980s and now serves as the company's main corporate offices.) The home had been vacant when Elvis first saw it and he had no problem with the church being next door, which Mrs. Cobb recalled was one of the reasons her mother chose Elvis as the buyer over other offers she had received.
Today the gracious Greek revival house on the hill surrounded by tall stately trees is on an oasis of land along a very busy Memphis street. Graceland and it famous music gates are widely recognized around the world. Graceland was placed on the American National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
1962
August 1965
G r a c e l a n d a n d W h i t e h a v e n
Yall might be interested to know more about Whitehaven community where Graceland sits.
Somethin strangely not mentioned/listed is that today WH is 90% black.
Whitehaven, Memphis Whitehaven, Memphis, Tennessee Country - State County United States Tennessee Shelby City 1950s Government - Mayor W.W. Herenton Area - Total 46.6 km² (18.0 sq mi) Population (2000) - Total 50,000 - Density 331.2/km² (857.9/sq mi) Aprox. Time zone CST (UTC-6) - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5) Website: http://www.memphismemphis.com/whitehav.htm
Whitehaven is an African-American neighborhood on the southwest side of Memphis,Tennessee, first organized in the late 19th century. Its current population is about 50,000. Today's Zip Code is 38116, with a land area of about 18 square miles. It is sometimes called "Blackhaven" due to the now predominantly African-American population.
History Originally a farm community, it was developed as a residential suburb of Memphis in the 1950s and 1960s. It is located in Shelby County and is roughly bounded by Brooks Road on the north and the Mississippi state line on the south, with Neely Road on the west and Airways Blvd. on the east.
The major traffic artery of the community is Highway 51, later known as Elvis Presley Boulevard. This roadway began as a toll "Plank Road" built between Memphis and Hernando, Mississippi, in 1852.
Three high schools are in the area: Whitehaven High School, Hillcrest High School and Bishop Byrne Catholic high. Whitehaven High School was opened by 1911 and was the only high school in the community until Hillcrest opened in 1962. Bishop Byrne, a private co-educational Catholic high school adjacent to St. Paul Church on Shelby Dr., opened in 1966. Fairley High School, Westwood High School, and Mitchell High School lie in the area just west of the Neely Road boundary.
Much of the later residential and commercial development was done by Carrington Jones and Lacy Mosby in the mid 20th century to provide housing for "baby boom" families who moved from Memphis to a pleasant environment in the old community. This gradually transformed plantation tracts to neighborhoods in the late 40s and 50s.
Elvis Presley bought his famous home, Graceland, in 1957; very soon afterward the farmland surrounding the estate was subdivided into homesites. For the next decade there was rapid development, with Whitehaven Plaza shopping center becoming the area's commercial center.
One of the first enclosed shopping malls in the country opened near Shelby Drive and Elvis Presley Blvd in 1966. Southland Mall was a destination for shoppers from all over the region, and the area prospered.
Whitehaven's major tourist attractions are still Graceland mansion and the annual Elvis Week, attracting many thousands there annually to remember "The King" on the anniversary of his death on August 16, 1977. During the two decades he lived in Whitehaven, Elvis spent as much time as possible at his home and was a beloved "neighbor" to residents there.
The community takes its name from a Colonel Francis White who was an early settler and major property owner. White was influential in getting a rail line to come through what was first called White's Station, later White Haven and then Whitehaven. (In East Memphis, there is another community historically called White's Station, along the Memphis & Charleston -- now Norfolk Southern -- Railroad. Currently, it is called White Station.) This "Tennessee and Mississippi Railroad" was chartered in 1853, and the first trains ran in 1856. The first "White Haven" post office was opened in 1871. The roads and train tracks connected the cotton farms of the delta to Memphis markets, establishing strong commercial links.
Some of the other founding family names are Raines, Hale, McCorkle, and Harbin. E. W. Hale moved to the area in the 1880s and opened a store near what is now Whitehaven High School on Highway 51. Hale's Store was a landmark for many decades.
In 1926, WREC radio began operations there, and in 1928 Whitehaven's Hoyt B. Wooten was one of the first six television licensees in America. Geography Whitehaven is located on the southern part of Memphis, Tennessee.
Annual precipitation: 50 inches, well distributed throughout the year. March is wettest month while October is driest.
Annual snowfall: 5.2 inches per year
Average Temperatures: January 42 F July 81F Education
Public Secondary Schools Whitehaven High School Hillcrest High School Fairley High School
Private Schools
Bishop Byrne St. Paul
Other facts The city of Southaven, Mississippi was originally named South Whitehaven after this city, but the name was later changed, as the city was not part of Tennessee. DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia is from this neighborhood. He refers to the neighborhood as BHZ (Blackhaven Zone). Gangsta Boo, the self-proclaimed Memphis Queen and Queen of the South, is from this neighborhood. She refers to the neighborhood as BHZ (Blackhaven Zone). Bryant Terry, Eco Chef, Food Justice Activist, and Co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen is from this neighborhood. He graduated from Bishop Byrne High School. That Memphis Kid, co-founder of upcoming Alabama-based label, Black Presidential Entertainment, is from this neighborhood. He refers to the neighborhood as BHZ (Blackhaven Zone). He also refers to himself as the "Mayor of BHZ," a title inspired by Gangsta Blac's alias, Mayor of South Memphis. Tommy Wright III grew up in this section of Memphis, he referred to it as 4 Corners, Pimpinville or 4 Corners. Radio announcer and author Ryne "Doc" Hancock graduated from Whitehaven High School in 2003 and lived in the area from 2002 to 2003. He credits the neighborhood and people around him for starting his writing career. Acclaimed Nashville songwriters Rivers Rutherford and Joe Leathers grew up in this neighborhood.
Meditation Garden Stained Glass Windows:
Here's an opportunity to own a one of a kind piece of Elvis memorabilia and history. A Memphian, Mike Witt, who buys older houses and renovates them purchased the house owned by my sister and brother in law in Germantown, a Memphis suburb. As most fans know my brother in law designed and built the Graceland Meditation Garden where Elvis has been laid to rest. The beautiful stain glass windows in the Garden wall are companion pieces to four other windows my brother in law purchased from Spain which he installed in his house when he was building it around the same time he built the Garden. Mike Witt removed the windows from the house during his renovation and now wants to offer them for sale to some lucky Elvis fan. These are authentic items for which I attest to as I was the one who was the conduit between Elvis and my brother in law in building the Garden and know every detail and decision that was made while building it.
Marty Lacker adds, After you learn the whole story and have the interest and ability to bid on the glass you can contact Mike at: contact@theelvisglass.com. Although I have nothing to do with the sale, I do want to see him sell them and be in the hands of an Elvis fan who will cherish the Elvis connection and the historical value of these stained glass windows that were done in Spain in the 1800's. rest assured that the Elvis and Graceland connection is real.-
GRACELAND TROPHY ROOM WINDOW
After Elvis passed away
Vernon moved back into Graceland but he stayed in a room that had been converted from a carport into an apartment on the first floor off of the kitchen area towards the back of the house. It is now used as a display room for Elvis items on the tour. He had lived in a house Elvis bought for him at 1266 Dolan Drive which is the road next to Graceland. There was even a gate in the backyard so Elvis and Vernon could walk to each others homes privately. His Grandmother, Minnie Mae continued to live at Graceland until she passed away in 1980 and his Aunt Delta continued to live at Graceland until she passed away in 1993. The kitchen is now part of the tour as well but it didn't used to be because it was still a working kitchen when Aunt Delta lived there. As far as I know, nobody ever moved into Elvis' room and it has been pretty much kept the same way as it was when Elvis lived there.
At Home(s) with Elvis
Elvis and his family moved quite a bit when he was young. Sometimes when times were especially hard for the family economically, they lived with relatives. It may have been one of the reasons Elvis dearly loved his mansion known as Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. He and his family had finally found a comfortable, permanent place to live. No matter where he traveled or how much success he enjoyed, Elvis always considered Graceland "home".
Soon here the other photos never seen taken by Jack Dennis
Graceland Gates 1971
Right Side of Graceland without swimming pool
G r a c e l a n d A r e a 1 9 8 3/1984
1961
Dammages at Graceland thru the years
It was an ugly sight, the black grafitti on the famous Graceland Wall.
However, the paint didn't even get the chance to dry - shortly after the grafitti was discovered, the maintenance crew cleaned it (see pictures clockwise).
The 'writing on the wall' is a tradition that goes back to the late fifties, when Elvis had the wall built.
Too back that some people just don't know when to stop
Graceland wall repair before/after
WORK AT GRACELAND
Putting up (Blue)Christmas lights.
22/06/2011 17:36:01
Storm hits Graceland
We have been sent an email with pictures informing us that Memphis was hit by a horrible storm last Thursday night and the Graceland mansion & grounds received damage. The mansion had minor damage while the ground lost five of it's trees, four of which were big and visible to visitors. The Racquetball building narrowly missed a direct hit from one of the tree's and the mansion lost power and was running on generator power most of the day.
Elvis going out of Graceland on trikes by the oblique way (between the church and Graceland property / left side).
For those that remember, this will bring back great memories of the 60's, 70's and 80's.
Elvis had ten or more rooms blocked in the brick building all the way in the back of the property. This is where Priscilla, Lisa and the rest of the family and friends stayed when Elvis passed away.
Howard Johnson's no longer exists. It has been demolished and there seems to be no future plans for this property.
I stayed there when it first opened - my family lived about 30 - 40 minutes from Whitehaven (very close to where Wolfchase is now). Usually our flight arrived at night and rather than drive to where our family lived, we opted to stay near the airport. Howard Johnson's became a favorite because of the large pool and the restaurant. My parents liked the "family friendly" atmosphere. I stayed there until the mid 80's. By the early 1990's the hotel was run down and had a less-than-favorable clientele. It was eventually closed and demolished.
Everyone had their favorite room - my favorite was the two room suite over the conference rooms with a balcony in the front and a big picture window in back of the building - perfect for people-watching.
Norine Mitchell worked there from the time they opened until she retired in the mid 80's. She became a dear friend. She passed away a few years ago in Atlanta (where she moved to be with her daughter).
29 years ago today: Graceland opened to the public
Graceland officially opened to the public 29 years ago today on June 7, 1982! Here's a photo from the ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Elvis' Aunt Delta and CEO Jack Soden. The opening was worldwide news and made front page headlines everywhere, but still the media wondered how long Elvis would attract fans to Memphis. 29 years later we know the answer...
/02/2012 5:37:36
Multi-million dollar make-over for Elvis Presley Boulevard :
Elvis Presley Boulevard is one of the most traveled roads in Memphis, but many argue the sight beyond the Graceland Estate is not fit for a king.
"It's really not becoming," said Whitehaven resident Yvonne D. Nelson. "It's more of an eyesore."
Over the years, part of Elvis Presley Boulevard in between Brooks Road and Shelby Drive has fallen into disrepair. Trash and blight litter the street, and the roads are in poor condition. Citizens argue it's a poor showing in an area that is crowded with tourists arriving to see Elvis' estate.
"People from all over the world, Australia, China, whatever, they've been here," said Visitor Center worker Eric Wilburn. "They know Elvis. They want to see this, so therefore we want to present the best picture possible," he added.
It's why a handful of citizens gathered at Grace United Methodist Church Tuesday night to talk about what will likely be a $43 million upgrade to the street.
With a $27 million commitment already from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, City Councilman Harold Collins hopes to secure an additional $16 million from the city over the next two years. Collins will introduce the measure at the next city council meeting.
The money will go toward projects including road repairs, sidewalks, drainage and landscape improvements, crosswalks and signs.
"The upgrade is definitely needed. Graceland is the second most visited home in the U.S.," Nelson said.
"The roads need to be repaved, the neighborhood needs to be renovated and they need to have a nice hotel/convention center," said one Elvis Fan named Willie Nelson. "The city has kind of neglected this area."
The project could start as early as the end of 2012, and Collins hopes to have the project completed in three years.
"Hopefully these things will happen soon. We can get it done and it won't take long," Wilburn said.
