Summers Hotel & Subway Lounge

During segregation, African Americans traveling through Jackson had few lodging options, and the Summers Hotel became one of the city’s two main hotels open to black guests. Originally the Maples, a rooming house for whites at 619 W. Pearl Street, the building was remodeled and renamed the Summers Hotel in 1943 after W. J. Summers, a prominent African American businessman, purchased it; he and his wife Elma ran the hotel. Established in 1944, it became popular with touring musicians, including James Brown, Hank Ballard, and Nat "King" Cole. In 1966 Summers opened a basement club called the Subway Lounge and enlisted Jimmy King to run it. The Subway featured mostly jazz in the 1960s and 1970s, then after King returned with his wife Helen in 1986, it was revived as a late-night blues venue with music beginning at midnight. Its performers included local and touring artists such as Jesse Robinson’s Knee Deep Band, the House Rockers, the King Edward Blues Band, Walter Lee "Big Daddy" Hood, Eddie Cotton, Jr., Bobby Rush, Sam Myers, Vasti Jackson, and many others. In April 2002 Robert Mugge filmed performances there for Last of the Mississippi Jukes, a documentary released in early 2003 that addressed the club’s history, diverse clientele, and failed efforts to save it despite serious structural problems. The Subway closed after a final performance in April 2003, and the building was demolished in 2004.

Jackson, Mississippi · United States