Henry Street in 1979

A Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority photograph from 1979 shows Henry Street, the center of entertainment for Black residents of Roanoke in the first half of the twentieth century. The red brick building at the far left of the image is the Hotel Dumas, which operated from 1917 to 1976 and was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book as a safe, high quality place for Black travelers to stay. Black entertainers visiting the city to perform at the whites-only Hotel Roanoke would lodge at Hotel Dumas.