Joe Gans and the Goldfield Hotel

Joe Gans and the Goldfield Hotel (HMR25)

Location: Baltimore, MD 21202
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Country: United States of America
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N 39° 17.605', W 76° 36.246'

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Inscription
The Goldfield Hotel once stood at the corner of East Lexington and Colvin Streets. Joe Gans, a Baltimore native and the first African American boxing champion, owned the hotel and its nightclub, which was one of the earliest integrated clubs in the nation.

Born in Baltimore in 1874, Gans was seventeen when he fought his first professional match in one of the city's athletic clubs. He won boxing's lightweight title in 1902 after knocking out his opponent in the first round. Gans held the title until 1908.

Gans purchased the hotel with the winnings from what was considered his greatest fight. In September 1906, Gans and Oscar "Battling" Nelson went 42 rounds in a match held in the tiny mining town of Goldfield, Nevada. The fight ended with Nelson disqualified for personal fouls. With his winnings, Gans purchased the three-story hotel at East Lexington and Colvin and named it after the west Nevada town.

The Goldfield Hotel opened on October 29, 1907 with a gala celebration and crowds overflowing onto Colvin Street (then Chestnut Street). Future jazz great Eubie Blake got his start as a piano player at the hotel's club. The Goldfield's grandeur and success inspired boxing's heavyweight champion Jack Johnson to open a club in New York, which later became Harlem's Cotton Club.

Gans died at the age of 35 in 1910. He is buried in southwest Baltimore's Mount Auburn Cemetery. The Goldfield Hotel, later used as a grocery store and apartments, was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the post office complex at the site today.

Details
HM NumberHMR25
Tags
Placed ByFriends of Joe Gans, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, September 5th, 2014 at 11:52am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 361670 N 4350564
Decimal Degrees39.29341667, -76.60410000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 39° 17.605', W 76° 36.246'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds39° 17' 36.30" N, 76° 36' 14.76" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)301, 410, 443
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 216 Colvin St, Baltimore MD 21202, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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