The Rossonian Hotel is a historic building and former business located at 2650 Welton Street in the
Five Points section of
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, United States.
[ With PDF including both text and photos als]
available at NARA
It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
since in 1995, for ethnic heritage and social history.
It has also been known as the Baxter Building and as the Baxter Hotel.
History
The former Rossonian Hotel is a historic building which opened in 1912 as the Baxter Hotel.
It was home to a jazz lounge where many prominent musicians performed. They were able to stay at the hotel which catered to African Americans during the era of segregation. In 1929, the hotel name changed to The Rossonian, and was named after the hotel manager,
Albert Henderson Wade Ross (A. H. W. Ross) (1884–1939).
Some sources state that Ross owned the Rossonian starting in either 1928 or 1929, and others state he owned it in the mid-1930s.
Ross had owned the
Denver White Elephants, a semi-professional baseball team. The hotel ownership and management changed multiple times between 1929 and 1945.
The building has been empty since 1998.
Chauncy Billups was a partner in one redevelopment proposal. It has had various owners and redevelopment plans have been launched but as of 2021 none had been successfully completed.
Architecture
The building was designed by architect
George Louis Bettcher
George Louis Bettcher (1862–1952) was an American architect based in Denver, Colorado. He designed a number of buildings which survive and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places for their architecture.
Biography
George Louis B ...
(1862–1952), for cigar businessman Robert Y. Baxter.
Bettcher was born in
and moved to Denver in 1895 where he remained until his death. Bettcher also designed residences in the Denver Country Club area and the Turnverein Building.
The building was built in 1907, and was opened in 1912.
It is on a wedge of property and is triangular shaped.
According to the
Denver Architecture Foundation, it is
Beaux-Arts in style.
The Rossonian's main entrance is on Welton Street.
See also
*
*
Charles Burrell (musician)
Charles Burrell (October 4, 1920 – June 17, 2025) was an American classical and jazz bass player most prominently known for being the first African American to be a member of a major American symphony (the Denver Symphony Orchestra, now known ...
, who played in the house band
References
External links
Five Points, Denver
Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
National Register of Historic Places in Denver
Buildings and structures in Denver
Beaux-Arts architecture in Colorado
1907 establishments in Colorado
Flatiron buildings
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