The Manse Hotel

Purchased by local African-American real estate broker and businessman, Horace Sudduth, in 1931, the former boarding house was converted into a high end hotel for the African-American community by 1950. It became a first class meeting place for members of the local community, as well as the hotel of choice for many visiting celebrities, including Frank Robinson, Duke Ellington, and James Brown. The hotel was run by the Sudduth family, which sold it in 1972 for $90,000, 15 years after the elder Sudduth's death, and soon after de-segregation spelled too a significant drop in business. It was converted into low-income housing units, in use until 2016, and is currently being rehabbed into affordable housing for seniors, after community members appealed to the importance of its ability to best speak to its history as a standing structure.