Photo Credit: Arkansas PBS

Taborian Hall, once known as Taborian Temple in Little Rock, Arkansas and is the only remaining   structure on what was once West Nineth Street or “The Line” if you are a local. In 1918 Taborian Temple was built for the Knights and Daughters of the Tabor, a Black fraternal insurance organization. The first floor of the three-story building informally became the Negro soldiers Club for Black soldiers at Camp Pike, which is also Camp Joseph T. Robinson, a training center for soldiers today.

Photo Credit: Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Photo Credit: Friends of Dreamland

For more than 100 years Little Rock’s West Nineth Street was booming. It was the heart of the Black Community and center for Black Businesses and Culture. The concentration of Black men and Black women on “The Line” was a lively scene and so vibrant that it was called, “Little Harlem!”

Photo Credit: Arkansas PBS

During 1920’s and 1930’s, Black people owned every kind of business imaginable operating on “The Line” and during the Taborian Temple was home to prominent Black businesses and professional offices. Some of these offices included Gem Pharmacy, Dr. J.V Jordan a local dentist, Dr. W.B Black a local Physician, the Ritz Beer Garden, and on its third floor was the iconic Dreamland Ballroom. Dreamland was a dancehall that held dances, concerts, social gatherings, boxing matches and basketball games.

West Nineth Street became the musician's hangout. Entertainers were drawn to Dreamland, and it was a safe and accepting space for Black performers, musicians and comedians. It was also loved by so many that it was one of the Chitlins Circuit’s prime stops making West Nineth Street a must have on the tour.

Dreamland   notable Black performers such as Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr, B.B. King, Sam Cooke, Charles and countless more. In most instances the entertainers would have performed at the Robinson Auditorium for a white audience and then headed “The Line” to Dreamland for the REAL party.  And that is why we have deemed Taborian Hall a Black Landmark.

And therefore, we have deemed Taborian Hall an OBO treasure and Black Landmark.

Photo Credit: Arkansas PBS

Fun Fact:

• Dreamland earned the reputation of being “the mecca of entertainment of the south.”
• The building is now entitled Arkansas Flag and Banner
• The Friends of Dreamland is a non-profit organization that was formed in 2009 to preserve Taborian Hall’s Dreamland Ballroom

Photo Credit: Friends of Dreamland

The Dreamland Ballroom is available to rent for photo shoots, weddings and events