, OH
The Majestic Hotel was a five-story, 250-room residential hotel that stood on the northeast corner of East 55th Street and Central Avenue from 1902 to 1967. In 1924 the hotel began to accept overnight guests. Amid the Great Migration, owner Hungarian immigrant Joseph Weiss welcomed African American travelers, earning a perennial listing in the Green Book guides. In 1944, Weiss sold the hotel to three African American investors: businessman Alonzo G. Wright, attorney Lawrence O. Payne, and Call & Post publisher William O. Walker. During the Majestic’s heydey, such services as a pharmacy, restaurant, tailor, beautician, and barber were offered. Its Rose Room jazz club drew musicians and fans to “Blue Monday” parties for many years. The hotel closed and was demolished in 1967, as civil rights advances opened more public accommodations to African Americans.
, OH
Prominent architect William S. Lougee designed the Woodland Public Bath House that opened in 1915 at a cost of approximately $90,000. The first floor of the facility included separate shower baths for men and women, an office, waiting rooms, and a gymnasium with a 53-yard running track. The second story was divided into four rooms: a club room, a small city library branch, a baby dispensary, and clinic. The basement featured an indoor swimming pool popular among adults and children. Like other public bath houses in Cleveland, the Woodland Bath House was an invaluable social space for its diverse community of largely Hungarian, but also Slovak, Bohemian, Italian, Lithuanian, and Jewish residents. In 1918, the City estimated that 254,508 residents had used Woodland Bath House facilities, enjoying classes, camps, baths, and clinics.