Somerville Hotel
About this property
Not to be confused with the Dunbar Hotel in Gainesville Florida, a hiatoric site on the Florida Black Heritage Trail The Dunbar Hotel, originally known as the Hotel Somerville, was the focal point of the Central Avenue African-American community in Los Angeles, California, during the 1930s and 1940s. Built in 1928 by John Alexander Somerville, it was known for its first year as the Hotel Somerville. Upon its opening, it hosted the first national convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to be held in the western United States. In 1930, the hotel was renamed the Dunbar, and it became the most prestigious hotel in LA's African-American community. In the early 1930s, a nightclub opened at the Dunbar, and it became the center of the Central Avenue jazz scene in the 1930s and 1940s. The Dunbar hosted Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Lena Horne, and many other jazz legends. Other noteworthy people who stayed at the Dunbar include W. E. B. Du Bois, Joe Louis, Ray Charles, and Thurgood Marshall. Former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson also ran a nightclub at the Dunbar in the 1930s. No longer a hotel, the building was renovated in the 2010s and is now part of a larger residential community named Dunbar Village.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Somerville Hotel
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Questions about this property
When was Somerville Hotel listed on the National Register?
Somerville Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 17, 1976.
What type of historic resource is Somerville Hotel?
Somerville Hotel is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Somerville Hotel?
The period of significance for Somerville Hotel is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Somerville Hotel?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Somerville Hotel will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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