Knights of Pythias Dance Hall in Jacksonville

Knights of Pythias Dance Hall in Jacksonville

Dance Hall

African American businesses and homes in Jacksonville were restricted to segregated districts within the city. The Knights of Pythias Hall, depicted in this 1943 photograph, formed the center of Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood. Known as the “Harlem of the South,” LaVilla hosted numerous national touring performers, including Ray Charles and Cab Calloway. Ray Charles began his career in LaVilla. Bandleader Walter Barnes described the neighborhood in 1938. When his band came to town, he wrote in the Chicago Defender, “the telephone lines started buzzing, taxis started running, the tailors, the restaurants, and in fact, the whole stroll turned out on W. Ashley Street in this city's young Harlem.” When his band left town to tour the rest of the state, Barnes concluded: “All in all, Jacksonville is a very fly town.”

Unknown

http://www.jaxhistory.com/Jacksonville%20Story/Picture%20of%20Knights%20of%20Pythias%20Building,%20One.html

Library of Congress

JaxHistory.com

February, 1943

No known restrictions

Image/jpeg

Image

Jacksonville, Florida

LaVilla, Florida