LISTEN TO BOOMTOWN RADIO! “ALL the Music That Matters for the Generation That Created Rock 'n' Roll”

This Day in Rock History - Mar. 17th

1957: Elvis Presley closes a huge real estate deal on this day when he purchases the Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. He paid $102,500 for the 13-acre estate.

The land was originally purchased by Stephen Toof, owner of a successful printing firm, in the late 19th Century. Toof named the grounds Graceland Farms, after his daughter Grace. The mansion was built in 1939 by Grace’s niece, Ruth Moore and her husband, Dr. Thomas Moore.

Today, it is an Elvis museum that draws more than 600,000 visitors a year, second only to the White House.

Pop Up Player

Latest Posts–Movies & TV

  • Return to Mayberry
    It's been awhile since we looked in on our friends in Mayberry. Here's how they're doing:
  • Make Room For Daddy
    A.K.A. The Danny Thomas Show Virtually forgotten now, Make Room for Daddy was one of TV’s earliest and most successful sitcoms. But it took a long and winding road to get there and along the…
  • The 10 Best TV Themes for Baby Boomers
    © 2026 By Allen B. Ury in some ways, TV themes provided a soundtrack to our lives even more than rock & roll. Life-long TV fan, writer and raconteur Allen Ury picks 10 themes we…
  • Friday Night at the Drive-In: "Ocean's 11" (1960)
    The Rat Pack (started by Humphrey Bogart and inherited by Frank Sinatra after Bogey’s death) made two movies in the sixties. Neither were great shakes as movies go, but the first one, Ocean’s 11, is…
  • Who Remembers Francis the Talking Mule?
    Every Baby Boomer remembers Mister Ed, the talking horse who caused trouble for his owner Wilbur Post. But Ed was actually a rip-off, a cheap TV imitation! Before Ed ever opened his mouth there was…
  • Rock Around the Clock (1956)
    The very first “rock & roll” film is also one of the best. Rock Around the Clock was rushed into production to capitalize on the success of its title song. That song had been released…