This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a show that delivers a hunk a hunk of burning history every day of the week. I'm Gabe Luesier, and in this episode, we're looking at the day when the private home of one of America's most beloved musicians became the ultimate pilgrimage for rock and roll fans worldwide. The day was June seventh, nineteen eighty two. Elvis Presley's Memphis home, known as Graceland, was open to the public for tours. The sprawling, twenty three room mansion was the primary residence of the singer and his family for twenty years, right up to his untimely death in nineteen seventy seven. As a tribute to Elvis and as a way to pay for the house's costly upkeep, Graceland was opened as a museum slash tourist attraction five years after his passing. On opening day, more than three thousand fans happily paid the five dollars admission fee for a chance to visit the home of the late great King of rock and roll. In the four decades since then, more than twenty two million visitors have done the same, though of course most of them paid more than five dollars money honey. Elvis Aaron Presley grew up dirt poor in Tupelo, Mississippi, but he promised his parents, Vernon and Gladys that one day he'd make enough money to buy the family a nice, big house to share. At the time, the Presleys may not have put much stock in their young son's big talk, but in nineteen fifty seven, when Elvis was just twenty two years old, he made good on his promise. After three years in the spotlight, he was looking to find a private retreat from the pressures of stardom, and his search eventually led him to a fourteen acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee. The property was a steel at just over one hundred thousand dollars, and while that's more like a million dollars in today's money, that would still be a bargain for a house with eight bedrooms and bathrooms and more than a dozen acres of land. Elvis made all sorts of renovations and additions to graceland, including a pair of custom entry gates made to look like sheet music. But one thing he didn't add himself was the property's famous name. The Colonial Revival style mansion had been built in nineteen thirty nine by doctor Thomas Moore and his wife Ruth, and they named it Graceland, after Ruth's aunt, Grace Toof. The Toofs were the previous owners of the land on which the mansion was built, having used it for farming, so naming the property after Grace was a way to honor that family history. Elvis liked the sound of the name as well, and decided to keep it after moving in when he wasn't on the road, The singer lived at Graceland full time with his parents, his wife Priscilla, and their daughter Lisa Marie. Plenty of other friends and relatives called the mansion home as well, but just about all of them moved out after Elvis's sudden death on August sixteenth, nineteen seventy seven. The singer died of a heart attack in the bathroom of his upstairs bedroom suite. He was only forty two years old, but had abused prescription drugs for years, an addiction that likely contributed to his heart condition. By the time of his death, Elvis and Priscilla had already gotten divorced, so when his father passed away two years later, Lisa Marie became Elvis's sole living heir. However, since she was only eleven years old at the time, her mother became a Graceland trustee in her stead until she came of age. Unfortunately, while Elvis was hard to beat as an entertainer, his financial planning skills left a lot to be desired, a fact that his unscrupulous manager, Colonel Tom Parker, infamously used to his own advantage. When Elvis passed away, he didn't leave behind nearly as much wealth as you might expect, and as a result, paying for the upkeep of Graceland quickly became a burden on his estate.

Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a show that delivers a hunk a hunk of burning history every day of the week. I'm Gabe Luesier, and in this episode, we're looking at the day when the private home of one of America's most beloved musicians became the ultimate pilgrimage for rock and roll fans worldwide. The day was June seventh, nineteen eighty two. Elvis Presley's Memphis home, known as Graceland, was open to the public for tours. The sprawling, twenty three room mansion was the primary residence of the singer and his family for twenty years, right up to his untimely death in nineteen seventy seven. As a tribute to Elvis and as a way to pay for the house's costly upkeep, Graceland was opened as a museum slash tourist attraction five years after his passing. On opening day, more than three thousand fans happily paid the five dollars admission fee for a chance to visit the home of the late great King of rock and roll. In the four decades since then, more than twenty two million visitors have done the same, though of course most of them paid more than five dollars money honey. Elvis Aaron Presley grew up dirt poor in Tupelo, Mississippi, but he promised his parents, Vernon and Gladys that one day he'd make enough money to buy the family a nice, big house to share. At the time, the Presleys may not have put much stock in their young son's big talk, but in nineteen fifty seven, when Elvis was just twenty two years old, he made good on his promise. After three years in the spotlight, he was looking to find a private retreat from the pressures of stardom, and his search eventually led him to a fourteen acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee. The property was a steel at just over one hundred thousand dollars, and while that's more like a million dollars in today's money, that would still be a bargain for a house with eight bedrooms and bathrooms and more than a dozen acres of land. Elvis made all sorts of renovations and additions to graceland, including a pair of custom entry gates made to look like sheet music. But one thing he didn't add himself was the property's famous name. The Colonial Revival style mansion had been built in nineteen thirty nine by doctor Thomas Moore and his wife Ruth, and they named it Graceland, after Ruth's aunt, Grace Toof. The Toofs were the previous owners of the land on which the mansion was built, having used it for farming, so naming the property after Grace was a way to honor that family history. Elvis liked the sound of the name as well, and decided to keep it after moving in when he wasn't on the road, The singer lived at Graceland full time with his parents, his wife Priscilla, and their daughter Lisa Marie. Plenty of other friends and relatives called the mansion home as well, but just about all of them moved out after Elvis's sudden death on August sixteenth, nineteen seventy seven. The singer died of a heart attack in the bathroom of his upstairs bedroom suite. He was only forty two years old, but had abused prescription drugs for years, an addiction that likely contributed to his heart condition. By the time of his death, Elvis and Priscilla had already gotten divorced, so when his father passed away two years later, Lisa Marie became Elvis's sole living heir. However, since she was only eleven years old at the time, her mother became a Graceland trustee in her stead until she came of age. Unfortunately, while Elvis was hard to beat as an entertainer, his financial planning skills left a lot to be desired, a fact that his unscrupulous manager, Colonel Tom Parker, infamously used to his own advantage. When Elvis passed away, he didn't leave behind nearly as much wealth as you might expect, and as a result, paying for the upkeep of Graceland quickly became a burden on his estate.

It was costing the family more than half a million dollars a year in maintenance and taxes, and by the nineteen eighties, the estate's accountants and bankers were recommending that Priscilla sell the house to avoid bankruptcy. Instead, she and the other two executors decided to open the house to tourists. That way, they could continue funding the estate while also keeping Elvis's memory alive in the public mind. In late nineteen eighty one, the Estate hired Jack Soden, a Missouri investment counselor who would later become the long running CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises. With Sodan's help, they secured a five hundred thousand dollars investment and then began visiting other tourist attractions for inspiration. The main focus was historical homes that had been converted into museums, such as Hurst Castle and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, but they also paid a visit to the Disney World theme park for good measure. Most of the planning was left to Jack Soden, but it was Priscilla Presley's idea to keep everything in Graceland the same as it was when Elvis was alive, including as many fixtures, furnishings, and personal belongings as possible. The opening of Graceland was set for the early summer of nineteen eighty two, with tickets being sold in advance that spring in order to pay for uniforms for the tour guides. There were three thousand and thirty four tickets allotted for the first day's tours, and every one of them sold out well ahead of the June seventh opening. Demand remained so strong in the coming weeks that the estate made back its half million dollar investment in just a little over a month. In a somewhat awkward twist, the Presley family hadn't fully left the building when the public tours began. Elvis's aunt, Delta May Presley Biggs, was still living at Graceland with her dog Edmund. She was front and center during the opening ceremony as well, cutting the blue ribbon with a little help from Jack Soden. Aunt Delta's first floor bedroom remained off limits to the public during her lifetime, but it was added to the tour one year after her death in nineteen ninety three. The same can't be said for Elvis Presley's upstairs suite. To this day, that part of the house remains closed to everyone but family members and Graceland's staff. During the early years of operation, the Graceland Mansion tour took guests through Elvis's living room, music room, dining room, TV room, pool room, and a trophy building where his many awards, costumes, gold records, and other pieces of memorabilia were displayed. Another highlight was the King's tiki themed den, appropriately nicknamed the Jungle room. The tour would end with fans exiting onto the car port, where Elvis's collection of luxury cars and motorcycles were lined up for their viewing pleasure. In later years, a visitor center with a cafe and gift shop would be added, along with additional exhibits, including the singer's private plane. Visitors can also visit Elvis's meditation garden and pay their respects at his grave, as well as those of many of his family members. In nineteen ninety three, Lisa Marie Presley inherited her father's estate on her twenty fifth birthday, and thanks to her mother's savvy stewardship, it was worth far more than when Elvis died. Sadly, Lisa Marie Presley passed away in January of twenty twenty three, though her estate, including her three daughters, still own the Graceland mansion itself, as well as all of the personal effects within it. As for Jack Soden, he's still the president and CEO of Graceland, and during his decade's long tenure, the house has received some pretty impressive honors. For instance, in nineteen ninety one, Graceland was added to the National Register of Historic places, and in two thousand and six it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Today, Graceland welcomes about six hundred thousand visitors a year, making it one of the five most visited homes in America. It's also the second most recognizable, surpassed only by the White House. And considering that Elvis was an actual royalty, being second to the President, he too shabby. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more about history by fiollowing us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any feedback you'd like to share, feel free to send it my way by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you

It was costing the family more than half a million dollars a year in maintenance and taxes, and by the nineteen eighties, the estate's accountants and bankers were recommending that Priscilla sell the house to avoid bankruptcy. Instead, she and the other two executors decided to open the house to tourists. That way, they could continue funding the estate while also keeping Elvis's memory alive in the public mind. In late nineteen eighty one, the Estate hired Jack Soden, a Missouri investment counselor who would later become the long running CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises. With Sodan's help, they secured a five hundred thousand dollars investment and then began visiting other tourist attractions for inspiration. The main focus was historical homes that had been converted into museums, such as Hurst Castle and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, but they also paid a visit to the Disney World theme park for good measure. Most of the planning was left to Jack Soden, but it was Priscilla Presley's idea to keep everything in Graceland the same as it was when Elvis was alive, including as many fixtures, furnishings, and personal belongings as possible. The opening of Graceland was set for the early summer of nineteen eighty two, with tickets being sold in advance that spring in order to pay for uniforms for the tour guides. There were three thousand and thirty four tickets allotted for the first day's tours, and every one of them sold out well ahead of the June seventh opening. Demand remained so strong in the coming weeks that the estate made back its half million dollar investment in just a little over a month. In a somewhat awkward twist, the Presley family hadn't fully left the building when the public tours began. Elvis's aunt, Delta May Presley Biggs, was still living at Graceland with her dog Edmund. She was front and center during the opening ceremony as well, cutting the blue ribbon with a little help from Jack Soden. Aunt Delta's first floor bedroom remained off limits to the public during her lifetime, but it was added to the tour one year after her death in nineteen ninety three. The same can't be said for Elvis Presley's upstairs suite. To this day, that part of the house remains closed to everyone but family members and Graceland's staff. During the early years of operation, the Graceland Mansion tour took guests through Elvis's living room, music room, dining room, TV room, pool room, and a trophy building where his many awards, costumes, gold records, and other pieces of memorabilia were displayed. Another highlight was the King's tiki themed den, appropriately nicknamed the Jungle room. The tour would end with fans exiting onto the car port, where Elvis's collection of luxury cars and motorcycles were lined up for their viewing pleasure. In later years, a visitor center with a cafe and gift shop would be added, along with additional exhibits, including the singer's private plane. Visitors can also visit Elvis's meditation garden and pay their respects at his grave, as well as those of many of his family members. In nineteen ninety three, Lisa Marie Presley inherited her father's estate on her twenty fifth birthday, and thanks to her mother's savvy stewardship, it was worth far more than when Elvis died. Sadly, Lisa Marie Presley passed away in January of twenty twenty three, though her estate, including her three daughters, still own the Graceland mansion itself, as well as all of the personal effects within it. As for Jack Soden, he's still the president and CEO of Graceland, and during his decade's long tenure, the house has received some pretty impressive honors. For instance, in nineteen ninety one, Graceland was added to the National Register of Historic places, and in two thousand and six it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Today, Graceland welcomes about six hundred thousand visitors a year, making it one of the five most visited homes in America. It's also the second most recognizable, surpassed only by the White House. And considering that Elvis was an actual royalty, being second to the President, he too shabby. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more about history by fiollowing us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have any feedback you'd like to share, feel free to send it my way by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you

Back here again tomorrow for another day in History class.

Back here again tomorrow for another day in History class.