Avalon Music

Avalon Hotel
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Avalon Music
Location	301 North Broadway, Rochester, Minnesota
Coordinates	44°1′35″N 92°27′47″W / 44.02639°N 92.46306°WCoordinates: 44°1′35″N 92°27′47″W / 44.02639°N 92.46306°W
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. 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.

External links

• Avalon Music website