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McCollum Hall is a historic building block that was an entertainment venue in 
It was built in 1938 by Clifford "Buck" McCollum, Sr. and his wife Gertrude and became a center of entertainment and commerce. It hosted performers including
McCollum Hall is a historic building block that was an entertainment venue in Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a site on Florida's Black Heritage Trail. It included a gas station and was listed in '' The Negro Motorist Green Book'' guide for African Americans. Murals are now next to it. A rope line segregated the upstairs area where performances and dancing were located. It was "at the heart" of Fort Myers' Dunbar Community. It is at 2701 Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It is an Art Deco style building.
It was built in 1938 by Clifford "Buck" McCollum, Sr. and his wife Gertrude and became a center of entertainment and commerce. It hosted performers including Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
, B. B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...
, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, and 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 ...
between the 1930s and 1960s. In 2022, a developer was contracted to renovate the building and to add apartments adjacent.
It was used by the U.S.O. (United Service Organization
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
) to host black servicemen from Page and Buckingham Army Air Fields. It was also a site for black professional baseball players visiting during spring training and hosted boxing matches.
See also
*Chitlin' Circuit
The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Lee County, Florida
__NOTOC__
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Lee County, Florida.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Lee County, Florida, ...
References
{{Reflist Art Deco architecture in Florida African-American history of Florida Buildings and structures completed in 1938 1938 establishments in Florida