Built in 1928 as the Hotel Somerville, the Dunbar Hotel was the elegant heart of Central Avenue’s Little Harlem and the first hotel in the United States built specifically to serve Black patrons during segregation. It hosted the 1928 NAACP national convention and lodged Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.
Visitor Info
The restored building now operates as Dunbar Village affordable senior housing, and its landmark facade and historical marker are viewable from the street along the Central Avenue jazz corridor. It is a designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument.