Dreamland: West Ninth Street

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In the state's capital city of Little Rock, and also within the city's original plat, 9th Street was the center of African-American life and culture. The character of the corridor developed in the late nineteenth century as the dwellings along 9th Street began to be replaced with commercial buildings and lodge halls. However, the heyday of the corridor came during the first half of the twentieth century.

Throughout its publication run, The Green Book, which was a travel guide that catered to African-American travelers, listed many places along 9th Street, or just off of the corridor on the side streets, that catered to African-American travelers. From hotels and tourist homes and restaurants to beauty parlors and barber shops and night clubs, African-Americans could find everything that they needed on 9th Street. One could dine at restaurants like the Brown Bomber or the Pic-A-Rib and then relax at the Lafayette or Shangri-La night clubs. If one overdid it partying, the right medicine could probably be found at the Floyd or Children's Drug Store before you headed back to your room at the Graysonia Hotel or The Marquette Hotel or the tourist homes operated by Mrs F F Boone or Mrs T Thomas, among others.

Although the 9th Street corridor in Little Rock was the center of the city's African-American community, and in certain respects the center of the state's African-American community, it wasn't strictly due to the presence of businesses that catered to African-American travelers. Others businesses existed in the 9th Street area, and along Broadway, that were significant to the state's African-American population, most notable of which was the Mosaic Templars of America. - NRHP

Places

Place	Locale	Type	AsNotedIn
Taborian Hall	Little Rock		NRHP
Mosaic Templars State Temple	Little Rock		NRHP