Jones-Hill House

Jones-Hill House, located at 2463 North Palmer Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home was purchased by Willie and Fostoria Jones in 1953, and they turned the basement into an after-hours club. The Joneses were an important couple in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville neighborhood. They owned the Hillcrest Hotel, which provided lodging for Black jazz musicians who were not allowed to stay in white-owned hotels. They also co-owned the Casablanca, a rooming house and after-hours club located in a mansion at 1641 North Fourth Street, where many African American jazz stars, such as Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington, performed.