Roseland Dance Hall
Known Name(s)
Roseland Dance Hall
Address
Springwood Ave. Asbury Park, NJ
Establishment Type(s)
Dance Hall
Physical Status
Unknown
Description
With no specific street number on Springwood Avenue indicated, the exact location of the Roseland is unclear and the location on the map is general. Springwood Avenue was the main commercial and entertainment thoroughfare of Asbury Park’s predominantly African-American West Wide, so the Roseland was in a prime location (https://tinyurl.com/SpringwoodAveHeritageWalk).
Detailed History
Little has yet been determined about the Roseland, which was listed only in 1939 in The Green Book. It appears to be the successor of sorts to the Roseland Ballroom. In their book about the vibrant music scene on Asbury Park’s West Side from 1871 through 1945, Charles and Pamela Horner recounted the history and importance of this earlier Roseland, which was the creation of African-American musician and entrepreneur Reese DuPree. Located at 1155 Springwood Avenue, at the corner of Atkins, the Roseland was a popular venue in the 1920s on Asbury’s West Side. It burned down in July of 1931, and Mr. DuPree ultimately left town. The Horners noted in correspondence that the first mention of a “new” Roseland Hall in local papers was in 1933; designated as around Springwood and Atkins, this new venue, perhaps, but not for certain at the same location of the original Roseland, was the site of political meetings and dances for African Americans as well as Italian Americans.
Sources: Charles and Pamela Horner, email correspondence; Charles and Pamela Horner, Springwood Avenue Harmony: The Unique Musical Legacy of Asbury Park’s West Side, Volume 1, 1871-1945 (Somerset, NJ: Classic Urban Harmony Press, 2020): 119-124.
J. Shaffer
