Savoy Hotel/Tourist Home
Savoy Tourist Homes, located in Asheville, NC, was listed in the Green Book in 1940, 1947-1957, and 1959-1967. It was listed in the Green Book as “Savoy — Eagle & Market Sts.” under “Hotels” in 1940 and 1947-1953 and under “Tourist Homes” from 1954-1955. It was listed as “Savoy Tourist Homes – Eagles & Market Sts.” from 1956-1957 and 1960-1967. The hotel was located in a historically Black business and cultural district known as “The Block.” The building that housed the hotel no longer exists.1
Savoy Tourist Homes, known locally as the Savoy Hotel, first opened in the summer of 1934 as the Hotel Chapman. The hotel was located at 31 - 35 S. Market Street and was owned by William C. Chapman. The name of the hotel was later changed to Chapman Hotel & Cafe. Lucille G. Butler opened Madam Butler Beauty Salon (another Green Book business) at 31 S. Market in 1937, and the hotel at 33-35 S. Market Street was sold to Grady C. Jackson around 1939. Jackson gave the hotel a new name - the Savoy Hotel.2
Grady C. Jackson was married to Mary Jackson and lived at 158 Livingston. He operated the hotel while continuing to work as a bellman at the white-owned George Vanderbilt Hotel. The Savoy Hotel became a landmark under his leadership. The hotel continued to operate a grill (the Savoy Grill) and served as a popular spot for tourists and locals alike.3
Grady C. Jackson sold the hotel to Emma L. Suter between 1955 and 1956. The Hotel changed ownership many times over the next decade; it was owned by Eunice Davenport in 1957, Robert and Janie Davenport from 1958 - 1960, and by Kath E. Cannon from 1961 - 1963. The obituary for Rev. Henry Howard indicated that he owned the hotel some time between 1963 and his death in 1982. The hotel continued to have residents through the mid-1970s.4
The Savoy Hotel lives on through the Savoy Ballroom at Foundry Hotel on Eagle Street, which is named in its honor.5
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1940 Green Book, 35; Green, 1947 Green Book, 64; Green, 1948 Green Book, 61; Green, 1949 Green Book, 55; Green, 1950 Green Book, 61; Green, 1951 Green Book, 52; Green, 1952 Green Book, 52; Green, 1953 Green Book, 52; Victor Green, 1954 Green Book, 52; Green, 1955 Green Book, 52; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 45; Green, 1957 Green Book, 46; Green, 1959 Green Book, 51; Green, 1960 Green Book, 72; Green, 1961 Green Book, 62; Green, 1962 Green Book, 73; Green, 1963-1964 Green Book, 57; Green, 1966-1967 Green Book, 57; “BLOCK: Business Owners Hope New Development Brings Traffic,” Asheville Citizen-Times, August 25, 2004, pp. B1, B7, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
2. “Hotel Chapman,” Asheville Citizen-Times, June 26, 1934, p. 13, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Miller’s 1936 Asheville City Directory, 910 (street listing), 208 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1937 Asheville City Directory, 717 (street listing), 134, 794 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1938 Asheville City Directory, 701 (street listing). 35 S. Market Street was Union Drug Store in 1930 (Miller’s 1930 Asheville City Directory, 11 (street listing); Miller’s 1939 Asheville City Directory, 636 (street listing), 445 (alphabetical listing)).
3. Miller’s 1940 Asheville City Directory, 257, 426; Miller’s 1945/1946 Asheville City Directory, 356 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1950 Asheville City Directory, 356 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1955 Asheville City Directory, 399 (alphabetical listing); “Hotels, Parks for Race Use in NC Listed,” The Carolinian, August 18, 1951, Page 5, North Carolina Newspapers/DigitalNC, digitalnc.org.
4. Miller’s 1956 Asheville City Directory, 413 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1957 Asheville City Directory, 473 (street listing); Miller’s 1958 Asheville City Directory, 156 (street listing); Hill’s 1959 Asheville City Directory, 160 (street listing); Hill’s 1960 Asheville City Directory, 160 (street listing); Hill’s 1961 Asheville City Directory, 168 (street listing); Hill’s 1962 Asheville City Directory, 164 (street listing); Hill’s 1963 Asheville City Directory, 160 (street listing); “Rev. Henry Howard” (obituary), Asheville Citizen-Times, October 17, 1982, 14b, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Joseph Carl Hamilton,” Asheville Citizen-Times, October 25, 1968, p. 10, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Ralph R. Richards,” obituary, Asheville Citizen-Times; January 13, 1969, p. 5, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “5 Men Linked With Series of Thefts are Arrested,” Asheville Citizen-Times, August 11, 1972, p. 17, accessed from www.newspapers.com. Rev. Howard also operated Wilson’s Barber Shop from 1957-1959.
5. Dana Miller, “US Hotels Celebrate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion for Black History Month and Beyond,” Hotel News Now, February 11, 2022, https://www.costar.com/article/1786396501/us-hotels-celebrate-diversity…;
Did you know?
- This entry was listed as “Savoy--Eagle & Market Sts.” under the “Hotels” category in 1940 and from 1947-1953. No specific street number was included in the entry.
- From 1954-1955, this entry was listed as “Savoy, Eagle & Market Sts.” under the “Tourist Homes” category then as Savoy Tourist Homes from 1956-1957 and from 1960-1967 with no specific street address.
- In 1951, The Carolinian newspaper advertised hotels and parks exclusively for African Americans in addition to private homes, dormitories, and dining halls at educational institutions. The James Keys Hotel and the Savoy Hotel, both Green Book sites, were listed in the advertisement for Asheville.
