June 8th in Elvis History

It’s June eighth, and on this day in 1971… Elvis Presley was honored by his hometown in a lasting way. The Memphis County Commission, with support from Mayor Henry Loeb, officially renamed a portion of Highway 51 South as “Elvis Presley Boulevard.” This stretch of road, which runs from South Parkway to the Mississippi state line, includes the address of Graceland itself. Though there were initial plans to rename the entire length of Bellevue Avenue, opposition from the prominent Bellevue Baptist Church scaled the change back. Still, the renaming marked a rare moment of civic recognition during Elvis’s lifetime—and forever tied the King to the streets of Memphis.