Avalon Music

Avalon Hotel
Avalon Music
Location 301 North Broadway, Rochester, Minnesota
Coordinates 44°1′35″N 92°27′47″W / 44.02639°N 92.46306°W / 44.02639; -92.46306Coordinates: 44°1′35″N 92°27′47″W / 44.02639°N 92.46306°W / 44.02639; -92.46306
Built 1919
Architect Ellerbe Architects
NRHP reference # 82002992[1]
Added to NRHP March 19, 1982

Avalon Music is a historic three-story red brick building in Rochester, Minnesota. It opened in 1919 as the Northwestern Hotel. The Sam Sternberg family operated it as a kosher restaurant and hotel for Jewish travelers, including many visitors to the Mayo Clinic nearby.[2]

In 1944, Vern Manning bought it and renamed it the Avalon Hotel. As the only hotel in the area which welcomed African Americans before desegregation, its guests included Duke Ellington and boxer Henry Armstrong.[3] It became a local focus of the Civil Rights Movement and opposition to it; both a march for racial equality and a cross burning occurred at the property on August 23, 1963.[3]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It has since been restored as retail and studio space, and houses a shop for musical instruments and audio equipment.

Notes

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Savage 1994: 123
  3. 1 2 St Mane 2003: 290

References

  • St Mane, Ted (2003). Rochester, Minnesota. Arcadia. ISBN 0-7385-3150-2.
  • Savage, Beth L.; Shull, Carol D. (1994). African American Historic Places. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-471-14345-6.
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