Building Better Communitites

Hampton House Restoration Now Underway Gives New Purpose to Historic Motel Once Center of Black Culture

Wendell James, Jr.
Citizens' Advisory Committee

Thanks to the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program (GOB), longtime plans to preserve the Historic Hampton House, once the center of Black culture in South Florida, are now underway. For many of us who remember the Civil Rights Era in Miami, this is part of our community's history that should not be forgotten. Recently, I had the privilege of participating in the launch ceremony for the project that is being spearheaded by Dr. Enid C. Pinkney, founding president of the Historic Hampton House Community Trust.  Due to her efforts and those of County Commissioner Audrey M. Edmonson, the Hampton House renovation will create a much needed multi-purpose facility in an often overlooked neighborhood.

Probably few motorists who drive by the empty motel off State Road 112 and 27th Avenue know the story of the unassuming two-story motel, but at the height of its popularity the 1950s motel hosted world famous musicians including Sammy Davis Jr, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, and Nancy Wilson. 

Sports figures hung out there-- Joe Lewis, Sonny Liston, Jackie Robinson and a young boxer named Cassius Clay who later won the world championship as Muhammad Ali.  The most revered and remembered guest, however, was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King who stayed at the Hampton House on several occasions and who delivered an early version of his legendary I Have a Dream speech from the motel prior to his memorable appearance in Washington DC in 1963.

During the late Fifties and early Sixties, the Hampton House was the focal point for Black Miami at a time when African Americans were not allowed at other venues.  This exclusion created something very special for many of us who still today remember gathering at a spot full of life in our community.

The Hampton House attracted jazz and blues aficionados from all over the United States, as well as crowds of loyal local patrons.  The motel's jazz club became a hot spot in South Florida for the evolving "black" music of the time. Practically any person or group, who achieved fame in the world of jazz, blues, or rhythm and blues, played or sang at the Hampton House.  Live broadcasts from the floor of the club were hosted by China Valles, a man whose name became synonymous with good jazz.

Everybody, black and white, who loved this music, came to the Hampton House to listen to the greats and enjoy the house band, led by Charles Austin, distinguished Broadway impresario, and later led by Richard Strachen. Professional musicians from all over the state of Florida would converge on the weekends to listen and have a chance to sit in for one of the performers while he was on a break.  A fusion of styles gave an atmosphere of excitement and creativity that marked the Brownsville neighborhood for years.

The Hampton House closed in 1976 in many ways a victim of integration that gave Blacks more options for entertainment venues and places to stay.  However, a $4.7 million allocation from the Building Better Communities program is giving the Hampton House a new life, this time as a community center.

The Hampton House has the potential to create a much needed sense of identity in the Brownsville area and neighborhoods nearby.  It will also give young people an opportunity to see what life was like in the l950s and l960s for South Florida's African-American residents.