Martin Hotel
1924-1985
For sixty-one years the Martin Hotel was located at this site. Established in 1924 by Robert Martin with 50 rooms it became the largest African-American hotel in the South. Many celebrities and entertainers such as: Ella Fitzgerald, The Ink Spots, Fats Domino, Mahalia Jackson, J. Ernest Wilkins (Former Assistant Secretary of Labor), Cab Calloway, the Platters, Nat "King" Cole, Lena Horne, Willie Mays, Satchel Paige and the "original" Harlem Globetrotters were guests at the hotel. The Martin Hotel closed November 30, 1985.
Marker is on M. L. King Boulevard (Tennessee Route 2) near Lindsey Street, on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
