Walnut Hills in Cincinnati in Hamilton County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Manse Hotel and Annex
⎯⎯⎯
Horace Sudduth

Manse Hotel and Annex side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 28, 2024

1. Manse Hotel and Annex side of marker

Inscription. Manse Hotel and Annex Walnut Hills has been home to a significant middle- and working-class Black community since the 1850s. In 1931, African American entrepreneur Horace Sudduth bought 1004 Chapel Street and then the row of buildings across Monfort, naming them the Manse Hotel and Annex. Throughout the 1940s, hotel dinner parties could move to the Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs house next door for dancing. A large addition to the Manse in 1950 created its own ballroom, 24-hour coffee shop, upgraded Sweetbriar Restaurant, and more guest rooms. It appeared in the Negro Motorist’s Green Book between 1940-1963, providing local, transient, and residential guests both catered meetings and top entertainment during the last decades of segregation. It closed in the late 1960s when the economic need for a first-class segregated hotel disappeared in the age of Black Power.

Horace Sudduth
(August 8, 1888-March 19, 1957) Horace Sudduth, born in Covington, Kentucky, graduated from its segregated high school in 1906, and became a Pullman Porter. In 1909, he settled in Cincinnati’s West End. He opened Sudduth Real Estate

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and operated the Lincoln Theater and other businesses over the next decade. Sudduth raised funds for the Black Ninth Street YMCA (1916), briefly roomed there, served on its board for decades, while also nurturing Black Ys nationally. Around 1917, he expanded his real estate practice to include Walnut Hills. In 1926 he moved with his family into the neighborhood. Sudduth founded Industrial Building and Loan to provide savings accounts and mortgages when redlining discouraged Black home ownership. His Walnut Hills Enterprise Company and Creative Realty sponsored business and employment opportunities. Sudduth revitalized Booker T. Washington’s National Negro Business League in the 1950s.

Erected 2022 by Walnut Hills Historical Society • Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation • Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce • Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 101-31.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Charity & Public Work • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP),

Horace Sudduth side of marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 28, 2024

2. Horace Sudduth side of marker

and the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1931.

Location. 39° 7.872′ N, 84° 29.216′ W. Marker is in Cincinnati, Ohio, in Hamilton County. It is in Walnut Hills. It is at the intersection of Chapel Street and Monfort Street, on the left when traveling east on Chapel Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1004 Chapel St, Cincinnati OH 45206, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest

and in the Ohio River Valley.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs / Cincinnati Federation Clubhouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Votes for Women (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Lane Theological Seminary / The Lane Seminary Debates

Manse Hotel and Annex / Horace Sudduth Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 28, 2024

3. Manse Hotel and Annex / Horace Sudduth Marker

The former Manse Hotel is in the background.

(about 500 feet away); Harriet Beecher Stowe House (about 600 feet away); Harriet Beecher Stowe (about 700 feet away); Walnut Hill Salutes Black Inventors (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cincinnati Ford Assembly Plant (approx. 0.4 miles away); Peebles Corner (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cincinnati.

Also see . . .
1. Horace Sudduth: Businessman, Philanthropist, WH Resident. A collection of articles about one of the most influential businessmen in Cincinnati history. (Walnut Hills Historical Society) (Submitted on May 30, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

2. Manse Hotel and Manse Hotel Annex (PDF). National Register of Historic Places nomination for the site, which was listed in 2019. (Prepared by Rory Krupp and Roy Hampton; via Ohio History Connection) (Submitted on May 30, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

The Manse Hotel Annex image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 28, 2024

4. The Manse Hotel Annex

Originally a late 19th century apartment building, Sudduth purchased it in the early 1950s to offer larger units for longer-term guests of his Manse Hotel.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 31, 2024. It was originally submitted on May 29, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 1,138 times since then and 46 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on May 29, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Manse Hotel and Annex⎯⎯⎯Horace Sudduth

Manse Hotel and Annex
⎯⎯⎯
Horace Sudduth