One of Columbus’ most historic sites is also one of the most difficult about which to find a great deal of accurate information.
The first two-thirds of the 20th Century found Columbus’ Seventh Avenue North neighborhood the center of a bustling African American community and a regional entertainment center. The heart of the neighborhood was the Queen City Hotel. It was a hotel that in the days of segregation hosted some of the most famous names in sports and entertainment — ranging from Louis Armstrong to Jackie Robinson. The historic structure was demolished in 2007 after a severe storm had caused much of the building to collapse.
The story of the Queen City Hotel begins with the story of Robert Walker, who was born a slave about 1848 and trained as a butler and caterer in the household of the Walker family of Columbus. Walker’s wife Sally had been a Billups slave where she was their house servant. After emancipation, she became the “best laundress” in Columbus and maintained ties to the Billups family.
Walker began working as a cook and then operated a wagon and buggy service known as the “Street Hack.” Though he had little formal education, he was a master of business and prospered. In 1909 he built a two-story wooden boarding house with a two-story front porch on the corner of Seventh Avenue North and 15th Street. By 1914, the boarding house had become the Queen City Hotel. It and a hotel in Catfish Alley became the two hotels for African Americans.
The hotel became a hub for the African American community in Columbus, and the Seventh Avenue North neighborhood flourished. Walker served his country in the military during World War I and returned to continue operating his hotel. Walker was well-respected by the white community, and when he died in 1931 prominent white businessman and historian E.R. Hopkins wrote Walker’s obituary “to honor his memory.” After Walker’s death, Ed Bush who had worked as a porter along with other jobs at the downtown Gilmer Hotel was hired as manager of the Queen City. Bush had made such a favorable impression on J.W. Slaughter, president of the Gilmer, that he helped provide Bush financial backing which enabled him to not only purchase the Queen City in 1946 but also develop several businesses on Catfish Alley. Bush soon began renovating and enlarging the hotel. He bricked the exterior, enclosed the front porch and added a beauty shop in the rear. The renovations were completed in 1948 and the hotel became known as the New Queen City Hotel.
Under Ed Bush’s management the hotel flourished even more. It truly became the heart of the African American community. From the 1930s into the 1960s, the Queen City Hotel hosted some of the most notable people in America. People who, in spite of their fame, were denied accommodations in other places because they were African American.
African American night clubs, such as Billups Evans’ Blue Room and Jim Sykes’ Savoy, brought top name entertainment to the Seventh Avenue neighborhood. The list of entertainers and Queen City guest reads like a who’s who: Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Little Richard, B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Duke Ellington to name only a few. The Birmingham Barrons of the old Negro Baseball League played some games in Columbus and stayed at the hotel. Players such as Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron are said to have been guests. Ed Bush was even a member of the Rhythm Kings, a local jazz and Blues band that played in the New Queen City’s ballroom and regionally. After the decline of segregation and Ed Bush’s death, the hotel never recovered. It was purchased by the Weatherspoon family in 1996. In 2002, a severe storm destroyed much of the building except for the front wall. Efforts to save the remains of the building failed and the last standing remnants were torn down by 2008.
As is often the case, I got interested in writing about the Queen City Hotel when Carolyn Kaye and I were discussing old images of Columbus, and she gave me a copy of a drawing of the original hotel by the late Sam Kaye. I found a lot of leads on the hotel’s history in research that Susie Shelton had given me. The hotel records a story of perseverance and grandeur in a time of repression. It is a story that is only partly told by a Mississippi Blues Trail marker. The unique cultural heritage and spirit of the Seventh Avenue North neighborhood and the history of the Queen City hotel is also celebrated by the Seventh Avenue Heritage Festival. This year’s festival runs Oct. 5-7 at the historic corner of Seventh Avenue and 15th Street North where the Queen City Hotel once stood.
Rufus Ward is a local historian. Email your questions about local history to him at [email protected].
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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