Wells'Built Museum

Once it was a Black-owned hotel that hosted the hottest performers on the so-called “Chitlin Circuit,” including Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Now it preserves local African-American history and culture.

Dr. William Monroe Wells was one of Orlando’s first black doctors who became a prominent figure in the city’s Black community in the early 20th century. In 1921, he built a hotel for Black Americans visiting Orlando, later followed by a nearby casino and entertainment venue. On February 4, 2000, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Though the casino is long-closed, the hotel building remains. It no longer hosts overnight guests, but instead is now home to the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in June 2009.