Avalon Music is an historic three-story red brick building in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

. It opened in 1919 as the Northwestern Hotel. The Sam Sternberg family operated it as a

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

restaurant and hotel for Jewish travelers, including many visitors to the nearby

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

. Savage 1994: 123 In 1944, Vern Manning bought it and renamed it the Avalon Hotel. As the only hotel in the area which welcomed

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s before

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

, its guests included

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

and boxer

Henry Armstrong Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisio ...

. St Mane 2003: 290 It housed the Avalon Café, one of two restaurants in the city which served people of color. It became a local focus of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and opposition to it; both a march for racial equality and a

cross burning In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to i ...

occurred at the property on August 23, 1963. After renovation in 1987, the property became Hamilton Music with studios and a store for

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s and audio equipment. In 2008, the building changed ownership and became Avalon Music to reflect its history. An expansion project was started in 2018 to turn the building into a restaurant, office space, and apartments.

Notes

References

* * {{National Register of Historic Places African-American history of Minnesota Buildings and structures in Rochester, Minnesota Hotel buildings completed in 1919 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Olmsted County, Minnesota