The elegant Whitelaw Hotel at the corner of 13th and T Street opened in 1919, giving African American travelers their first opportunity to stay in a first-class hotel in the segregated nation’s capital. Its lobby featured fine rugs and potted palms, and it also offered a richly decorated dining room, comfortable rooms, and first-floor convenience shops. The hotel was created by African America business entrepreneur John Whitelaw Lewis, a former construction worker who became a builder and financier and also built the Industrial Bank building on U Street. He raised the money for the project and hired a Black builder and the Black architect Isaiah T. Hatton to carry it out. The hotel’s restaurant and ballroom became a favorite setting for elite dinner parties and dances, and its guests included Cab Calloway, Joe Louis, and the neighborhood’s native son Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. Ellington lived on this block from age 11 to 18, at 1806 13th Street from 1910 to 1914 and at 1816 13th Street from 1915 to 1917. While living here, he chose music over baseball and absorbed the neighborhood’s varied musical traditions through his teacher Henry Grant at Armstrong High School, traveling pianists in local pool halls, choirs and soloists in neighborhood churches, and teachers at the Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression at 9th and T Streets. He left for better opportunities in New York in 1923, but often returned to perform at the Howard Theater and other clubs in his old neighborhood, where his talent and style made him a hometown favorite. The Whitelaw Hotel, where he sometimes stayed during visits, was later converted into affordable apartments by Manna, Inc., and its ballroom with stained glass ceiling was restored and continues to serve as a community gathering place.