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

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

. 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, ), from the Ashke ...

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

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

. 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 known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s before

desegregation Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws ...

, its guests included

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and boxer

Henry Armstrong Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 22, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. He is the only fighter to ever hold world championships in three divisions (fea ...

. 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 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 has burned crosses on hillsides as a way ...

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 Music, 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 ...

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