Mississippi Blues Trail
The Mississippi Blues Trail marker commemorating the Blue Room is on Clay Street near Mulberry Street, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. There is another Mississippi Blues Trail marker a few blocks east on Clay Street commemorating The Red Tops.
The GPS location of the Blue Room marker is: N 32° 21.012′ W 90° 52.980′
This marker reads:
“THE BLUE ROOM – One of the most storied night spots in the South, the Blue Room, which stood across the street at 602 Clay Street, was operated for more than thirty years by flamboyant owner Tom Wince. Ray Charles, Fats Domino, B.B. King, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, and Little Milton were among the many stars who played here. In the 1940s and’50s Wince was the most important blues promoter in Mississippi, booking bands through a network of nightclubs and halls across the state and in Louisiana.”
Here is a map showing the location of this Mississippi Blues Trail marker:
The Blue Room is no longer standing. A multi-story parking lot now stands on its former site.
A multi-storey parking lot now stands on the former site if Harold Wince’s club, the Blue Room.
In its day, the Blue Room was a major venue on the Chitlin’ Circuit, of which Tom Wince’s “network of nightclubs and halls across the state and in Louisiana” was a part. The Chitlin’ Circuit was comprised primarily of African-American owned clubs and operated in other states besides Mississippi and Louisiana.
Preston Lauterbach has written an excellent book about The Chitlin’ Circuit and has included some very worthwhile information about Tom Wince, the Blue Room and other clubs in Tom Wince’s “network.”
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