The Savoy Ballroom was located at 596 Lenox Avenue between 140th and 141st Streets in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. From March 12, 1926, until July 10, 1958, the Savoy was one of many Harlem hotspots along Lenox Avenue, but it was the one to be called “World’s Finest Ballroom”. Savoy’s ballroom was always bright every night of the week from the start. During its peak years of the late 1920s and 1940s, the ballroom generated $250,000 in annual profit. Nearly 700,000 people visited the ballroom every year.
Unlike many other ballrooms, the Savoy had a no-discrimination policy, such as the Cotton Club. The clientele was 85% black and 15% white, although sometimes there was even distribution. “The Evolution of Negro Dance” presented at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. October 1958 marked the end of the ballroom’s business. Savoy Ballroom manager and co-owner Charles Buchanan, clubs, and organizations tried to save it, but it was demolished between March and April 1959 to construct the Delano Village housing complex.
Check out these vintage black and white photographs of people dancing and swinging at the ballroom:
