Winks Panorama
Winks Panorama | |
| |
Nearest city | Pinecliffe, Colorado |
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Coordinates | 39°55′16″N 105°27′25″W / 39.92111°N 105.45694°WCoordinates: 39°55′16″N 105°27′25″W / 39.92111°N 105.45694°W |
Built | 1925 |
Architect | Wendall Hamlet |
Architectural style | No Style Listed |
NRHP Reference # |
80000901 (original) 13001035 (increase) |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | March 28, 1980[1] |
Boundary increase | October 15, 2014 |
Winks Panorama, also known as Winks Lodge, was a hotel near Pinecliffe, Colorado catering to African-American tourists during the early and middle 20th century. The lodge was built in the Lincoln Hills Country Club, which was at the time the only African-American resort in the western United States. The Lincoln Hills club was organized in 1922, selling lots with payments as low as $5.00 down and $5.00 per month. The lodge was built by Obrey Wendell "Winks" Hamlet in 1928. Hamlet had been involved in the original club project, and had been assembling land for a lodge since 1925. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 caused many lots in Lincoln Hills to be abandoned, but Hamlet promoted the lodge nationally through advertisements in Ebony and attracted a clientele from the eastern United States.[2]
The hillside lodge used local stone for the foundation, with a three-story shingled superstructure. The first floor was for service and storage, the second for dining and entertainment, and the third included six guest rooms and a shared bath. Several cabins surrounded the main lodge, including a honeymoon cabin and a tavern.[2]
Prominent guests included Count Basie, Billy Eckstein, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.
The lodge operated until Winks' death in 1965.[3] It is now owned by the James Beckwourth Mountain Club, which has undertaken restoration of the lodge as a conference center.[4] Winks Panorama was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 1980.[1]
See also
Other African-American resorts included:
References
- 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- 1 2 Calloway, Bertha; Fly, Everette; Barbara Wigfall (1980). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Winks Panorama" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ↑ "Winks Lodge (1928-1965)". African-American History in the West. BlackPast.org. 2008-10-31.
- ↑ "Wink Hamlet's marvelous legacy". Gilpin County News. 2008-10-31.
External links
- Gilpin County News article on Wink Hamlet and the restoration of the lodge
- Denver Urban Spectrum article on Winks Lodge and Lincoln Hills
- Beckwourth Mountain Club, Winks Lodge