About The
Imperial Hotel

About the Hotel

Built in 1949 and operated until 1969 by Harvey and Dorothy Lewis Thompson, the Imperial Hotel was Thomasville’s only hotel that would accommodate Black travelers prior to desegregated accommodations. The Imperial Hotel was featured in The Green Book, a guide for African American tourists on hotels, restaurants, and shops that would reliably serve them during the Jim Crow era. The Imperial Hotel has national significance as it is one of only three in the region that is still viable to restore.

Our New Vision

In 2018, gifts from local foundations enabled the Jack Hadley Black History Museum to purchase the historic Imperial Hotel.

Over the last several decades, these structures have been in a state of severe decline. These sites of significance—especially for the hotel as one of the few remaining sites listed in The Green Book—are in peril and need restoration before it’s too late.

Within these challenges, an opportunity arises one with an enormous impact on the mission of the Jack Hadley Black History Museum and the community of Thomasville. With the recent acquisition of the Imperial Hotel, Shotgun House, and adjacent land, there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to construct a new facility that brings together the Jack Hadley Black History Museum, the Imperial Hotel, and the Shotgun House on one campus. In doing so, a new vision for the Jack Hadley Black History Museum is realized as multiple stories are preserved at their fullest and the historic sites are protected.