Hotel Thelma is located on the northwest corner of Wayne and Logan Streets in Bluefield. The two-story building of concrete block with glass block windows had a restaurant on the first floor. Guest rooms and apartments were on the second floor. Opened on Thanksgiving Day of 1949, the hotel was built, owned, and operated by Thelma Stone, a local restauranteur. Mrs. Stone was active in the Red Cross, Hancock Elementary PTA, Princess Ann Court, and many other civic and church groups. Prior to opening Hotel Thelma, Mrs. Stone was the proprietor of Jane's Lunch and the Florence Hotel on Wilson Street in Bluefield. The Hotel Thelma was listed as a specially recommended business in the Green Book, a motorist's guide for African American travelers during the Jim Crow era.
Besides welcoming out-of-town guests, the Hotel Thelma was also a community gathering place. Dr. Carolyn (Foster) Baily Lewis, the great niece of Mrs. Stone, provided the following account of Mrs. Stone and her business:
"Hotel Thelma was known far and wide, especially for hospitality and food – particularly the food. Mama Thelma, as she was affectionally called, made sure anyone needing a room or food was accommodated, even if they had no money. She was everybody’s Mama, who assisted anyone in need. Nobody could fry chicken and fish, make macaroni and cheese, collard greens, green beans, corn bread and biscuits, mashed potatoes, ox tails, brown beans, breakfasts, fried potatoes and onions, and more, like her. And, yes, chitterlings.
I was raised by this phenomenal woman, my Great Aunt, from the age of six months, the year after she built the hotel. I had a bird’s eye view to its growth and influence. Railroad workers, coal miners, college students, various cultures, all, came to enjoy the food, the atmosphere, and the jukebox. She didn’t believe in processed food. Everything was fresh from the slaughterhouse, the fish market, and the produce warehouse. We made those trips every Saturday morning – rain, snow, or shine. She also had a garden and even scalded chickens and wrung their necks in the back yard."
Hotel Thelma hosted musical luminaries such as James Brown, Sam Cooke, Etta James, Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, and other artists playing at the Bluefield Auditorium at Bluefield State College. The Bluefield Auditorium was part of a network of African-American venues and clubs during the Jim Crow era.
Dr. Lewis initiated the placement of a West Virginia Highway Historical Marker to commemorate the historical significance of Hotel Thelma, and the marker was installed in January 2022.
Congrats to JMT67 and Siegcat for the FTF!