2010 New Orleans Nine: Central City’s Dew Drop Inn

Central City is home to some of New Orleans’ most important tangible ties to its musical heritage, too many of which are threatened with demolition by neglect. This year Louisiana Landmarks Society named two such buildings to its New Orleans Nine most endangered list, the Professor Longhair House and the Dew Drop Inn. The latter, one of this city’s most storied and flamboyant night spots, is an iconic example of the importance of music venues to New Orleans culture.

The former Dew Drop is comprised of two joined commercial buildings at 2836 La Salle Street facing the former site of the Magnolia Street Housing Project. Barber Frank Painia purchased the first building in 1939 and renovated it to include a barber shop, restaurant and bar. He soon purchased the adjoining property for a hotel, and his side work booking African American acts in the few available venues around the city led him to open his own nightclub in 1945.

The Dew Drop was one of the first of its kind in New Orleans. During the era of segregation travelling acts could stay in the hotel, which quickly put the venue on the radar of the nation’s most important jazz, blues, and rhythm & blues artists. Ray Charles, Little Richard, Ike & Tine Turner, Sam Cooke, and many more would play there. Equally important was the club’s open atmosphere which welcomed a constant influx of young local talent including Allen Toussaint, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Earl King. Typical shows, hosted by the Dew Drop’s famous cross-dressing emcees, evolved over the course of an evening, with comedians, shake dancers, and other variety acts preceding the music. In every respect, the Dew Drop was one of the most beloved venues of both patrons and artists and one of the most important centers of musical innovation and cross-pollination in New Orleans before closing in 1970.

Frank Painia died in 1972 and his grandson owns the now vacant building. Its current façade bears little resemblance to that of its heyday in the 1950s and 60s. Like the Professor Longhair House, the Dew Drop Inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as part of the Central City Historic District, and its local landmark designation is pending. As a result, federal and state historic tax credits could be used for its restoration. One can only hope that someday soon someone will be able to put the needed work into the building before it, like so many other historic New Orleans nightclubs, is lost for good.

For more information on the Dew Drop’s past, check out this clip from WYES’ “The Nightlife That Was” documentary, and this 2004 American Routes segment on Pasty Vidalia, the club’s infamous long-time transvestite emcee (begins 41 minutes into the show’s second hour – fast forwarding is easy!).