Who Named It Graceland and Why?
Graceland was initially a farm. The land was owned by Stephen C. Toof, who named the lot after his daughter, Grace. It was passed on from father to daughter and from daughter to niece. And in 1939, Ruth Moore (Grace’s niece) decided to scrap the cattle farm and build an impressive 10,266-square-foot mansion instead.
Photo by Jim Smeal, BEI, Shutterstock / Snap, Shutterstock
Almost two decades later, in 1957, Presley bought the house. But it wasn’t Elvis who made the purchase – his parents did. The successful singer was only 22 at the time but had made enough money to give his old folks $100,000 to buy a house, and Graceland was their pick!