Thanks to...
Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center for sharing this on Facebook.
"... This photograph by Don Talley features the exterior of the famous local juke joint, Roseland Gardens. Around 1920, or possibly as early as 1918, Horace Chambers Rutherford built a juke joint open to all people prior to integration in the U.S after he saw a need for a social gathering place for his friends and neighbors during a time when segregation prohibited the Black community from patronizing area restaurants, bars, pools, lakes, and music venues. Roseland Gardens’ reputation for lively entertainment spread quickly. Soon folks from as far away as Asheville, Old Fort, and Marion were regularly making their way up the narrow dirt road to Black Mountain’s Brookside community. Live music, performed by traveling musicians on juke joint circuits, helped keep patrons on their feet and dancing. Roseland Gardens closed in 1976.
The building on Flat Creek Road that the renowned juke joint called home stood until the 2010s. However, despite many attempts to get the building registered as a historic landmark, it was eventually demolished in 2015. The original Roseland Gardens sign, as well as the movie projector, now reside at the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center in Black Mountain."
“People were coming here from all over, working at Montreat, Ridgecrest and Blue Ridge and of course those people had no way of socializing other than church,” said Rutherford’s granddaughter, Katherine Debrow, then 67, in a 2006 interview with Sally and Garry Biggers. “That’s why my grandfather built the juke joint. But he was also a businessman, and so he just came up with all these ideas of ways to make money." Quote above from "WNC History: 'Black Mountain Blues' at Roseland Gardens" By Anne Chesky Smith, in Asheville Citizen-Times, Feb. 19, 2023
I didn't go down that road often, so I didn't know when it was finally taken down.
Sepia Saturday suggests "short" for this week.
Today's quote:
Great photos, the dance hall images are wonderful. BTW, I love your flower header photo. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen. As soon as my coffee is ready I'm coming over to see your critters post!
Delete..."American" history that many would like to sweep under the rug.
ReplyDeleteTrue enough. But our black population in Black Mountain is so small, and I seldom run into them, I just feel there's a whole lot of old fashioned discrimination still happening.
DeleteNorth Carolina has a reputation for still having that old fashioned discrimination going. And they aren't the only state that is true of. I'm glad they took that photo. The building looks like a barn or a big shed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristin...I hate that the color barrier is alive where I live. Interestingly enough, we probably have as many Hispanic folks as Blacks. I'd love to see the numbers. It must have been a great gathering place for young people in its day.
DeleteWonderful picture of that dance!
ReplyDeleteYes, though neither version I found is original.
DeleteBeing raised Pentecostal, dancing was not part of my life. Too bad. It’s fun. I dabbled a tiny bit for a few years in later life — mostly line dancing, which I really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteOh I'd have love line dancing, but never got the chance. I lived in an apartment above a Pentecostal preacher when I first got married, and of course the church was right across the street. They had drums and electric guitars going and raised the roof! So maybe they didn't dance, but they knew music!
DeleteQuite a memory it left behind.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of history.
DeleteIt's nice that these photos survived and are still a memory of the past.
ReplyDeleteOur History Museum has lots of artifacts, and I think is making a digital archive.
DeleteFascinating history, Barb!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it.
DeleteThe roots of so much forgotten culture is found in dance, songs, and music. The history of WNC's African-American folk music is always worth preserving but we have to remember that it was an organic art form that easily changed to follow the latest fashions and trends.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo of that dance hall its vibrant nightlife. Reminds me of diverse swing dances I've gone to here in NYC (before the pandemic), which are slowly making a comeback. A shame the building was not repaired and saved, but at least it is preserved photographically. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteAll that's needed is a place, some music, & look at the fun! What a wonderful thing to do for the community! But sad that it had to be done because people weren't accepted elsewhere.
ReplyDelete