DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Elgin and Dowling tells it — and friend, this one deserves a long listen. Picture the Third Ward of Houston, sometime between 1900 and 1920. A residential building boom is rolling through the neighborhood, and in its wake, Dowling Street — the main artery of the Third Ward — starts filling up with something remarkable.
Restaurants, shops, churches, stores, professional offices, movie theaters, nightclubs. A whole world unto itself, humming and alive. Now, at the corner of Elgin and Dowling, somebody had a vision.
Clarence Arnold Dupree and his wife Anna Johnson Dupree — prominent philanthropists, business owners, people of standing — commissioned an architect named Lenard Gebart to design something worthy of the community they were part of. And in 1939, what Gebart drew up and the Duprees built opened its doors to the world. The Eldorado Ballroom.
Named for one of the social clubs to which the Black community's most prominent professionals and business people belonged, the Eldorado was not simply a place to dance. It was a statement. It was a stage.
It was where members of the Black middle and upper classes came to demonstrate their wealth and their sophistication — in a time and a country that did everything it could to deny them both. And oh, the music that came out of that place. Milton Larkin got his start there.
Illinois Jacquet. Arnett Cobb. Musicians and band leaders whose names would carry far beyond the corner of Elgin and Dowling.
Then came the late 1950s, and the Eldorado was hosting nationally known Black artists in blues and R&B, pulling in talent that had crossed the whole country to play under that roof. But here is where the story gets harder, the way so many Texas stories do. By the 1960s, migration out of the inner city was pulling people — and the businesses that served them — away from the old neighborhood.
The social clubs whose names once meant everything began losing their hold. Parking was scarce. Other venues were competing for the same crowds.
Each of those pressures alone might have been manageable. Together, they were not. The Eldorado Ballroom closed in the 1970s.
Following the deaths of the Duprees, an oilman named Hubert Finkelstein purchased the property in 1984. And then — fifteen years later — he donated it to Project Row Houses, a community organization. Today, the Eldorado Ballroom stands as one of the few historic buildings remaining in the Third Ward's former commercial district.
That whole world on Dowling Street — the restaurants, the theaters, the nightclubs, the hum of it all — is mostly gone. But that corner of Elgin and Dowling is still there. Still standing.
Still holding the memory of every note that ever shook its walls.
What the marker says
BETWEEN 1900 AND 1920, A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING BOOM FUELED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMERCIAL DISTRICT ON DOWLING STREET, THE THIRD WARD’S MAIN ARTERY. THE BUSTLING DISTRICT INCLUDED RESTAURANTS, SHOPS, CHURCHES, STORES, PROFESSIONAL OFFICES, MOVIE THEATERS AND NIGHTCLUBS. LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF ELGIN AND DOWLING STREETS, THE ELDORADO BALLROOM WAS DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT LENARD GEBART FOR THE PROMINENT PHILANTHROPISTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS CLARENCE ARNOLD DUPREE AND HIS WIFE ANNA JOHNSON DUPREE. THE BALLROOM OPENED IN 1939 AND WAS NAMED FOR ONE OF THE SOCIAL CLUBS TO WHICH THE BLACK COMMUNITY’S MOST PROMINENT PROFESSIONALS AND BUSINESS PEOPLE BELONGED. THE ELDORADO BALLROOM PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEMBERS OF THE BLACK MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASSES TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR WEALTH AND SOPHISTICATION. THE BALLROOM LAUNCHED THE CAREERS OF MUSICIANS AND BAND LEADERS SUCH AS MILTON LARKIN, ILLINOIS JACQUET AND ARNETT COBB. IN THE LATE 1950s, THE ELDORADO BALLROOM HOSTED POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT ACTS FROM NATIONALLY-KNOWN BLACK ARTISTS IN THE BLUES AND R&B GENRES. BY THE 1960s, MIGRATION OUT OF THE INNER CITY RESULTED IN THE RELOCATION OR CLOSURE OF MANY BUSINESSES IN THE AREA. IN ADDITION, THE DECLINING IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL CLUBS, INADEQUATE PARKING, AND COMPETITION FROM OTHER VENUES CUMULATIVELY LED TO THE BALLROOM’S CLOSURE IN THE 1970s. FOLLOWING THE DEATHS OF THE DUPREES, OILMAN HUBERT FINKELSTEIN PURCHASED THE PROPERTY IN 1984 AND 15 YEARS LATER DONATED IT TO PROJECT ROW HOUSES, A COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION. THE ELDORADO BALLROOM IS ONE OF THE FEW HISTORIC BUILDINGS REMAINING IN THE THIRD WARD’S FORMER COMMERCIAL DISTRICT.