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Graceland to join roster of National Historic Landmarks
Photo Alan Spearman/The Commercial Appeal

The Jungle room in Graceland is a testament to the whimsical nature of Elvis. He bought all of the furnishings in less than 30 minutes. It has been perfectly preserved ala 1975.
Photo Charles Nicholas/The Commercial Appeal

Elvis posed with one of his cars outside Graceland for The Commercial Appeal's first issue of Mid-South Sunday magazine, March 7, 1965.
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By Michael Lollar
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March 24, 2006
Graceland, the Whitehaven estate Elvis Presley bought for $103,000 in 1957, next week will join such national treasures as the Alamo, Pearl Harbor, the White House and Mt. Vernon as a National Historic Landmark.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton will arrive in Memphis Monday to make the designation official at a 10 a.m. ceremony on the grounds of the home Elvis bought with earnings from his first hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel."

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The designation will make Graceland one of 27 Tennessee sites among about 2,500 national landmarks listed by the Department of Interior.

The last Tennessee site added to the list was Sun Records in 2003. Elvis began his recording career at the studio under the tutelage of legendary producer Sam Phillips.

Other Shelby County sites on the list are the Beale Street historic district (on the list since 1966) and Chucalissa Archaeological Museum (added in 1994).

The National Park Service, part of the Interior Department, explains on its Web site that a National Historic Landmark is an "exceptional" place: "They form a common bond between all Americans. While there are many historic places across the nation, only a small number have meaning to all Americans -- these we call our National Historic Landmarks."

Graceland was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. But in the minds of many Americans, Graceland has been a national landmark for decades, said Elvis Presley Enterprises chief executive officer Jack Soden.

"Graceland is so famous it is arguable that on a worldwide basis it is the second most famous home in America. You go to the far corners of the Earth, and they don't really know what Mt. Vernon or Monticello or Hearst Castle are, but they know what Graceland is. It is kind of in a class of its own," said Soden, who annually plays host to more than 600,000 tourists from around the world.

The designation process began in 2002, initiated by a National Parks Service official in Atlanta, Soden said.

Interior Department spokesman John Wright said the landmark designation does not limit Graceland or Elvis Presley Enterprises' rights to make changes to the property within limits. "As long as they don't change the historical significance, there is no problem."

Soden said the designation means no routine involvement by the Department of Interior.

"We were very careful about that," he said.

"As much as we respect the honor, we couldn't get into a situation where there were bureaucratic limitations on what we could do at Graceland."

Soden said Graceland's goals are in "perfect harmony" with the national landmarks program, which is one of preservation.

"We have meticulously maintained Graceland, but we couldn't get into a situation where we had to check with a bureaucrat someplace if we needed to repaint the shutters."