PlanetFillmore

Where the universe connects - Billie Holiday singing at the Manor Plaza Hotel, as doorman Flip Wilson request stage time at Leola King's Biue Mirror. Dexter Gordon hanging out at JimBo's Bop City. Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane all swinging through town for gigs dine at Gilmores. The Fillmore in the 1940s and 1950s was a pre-dominantly Black and hopping neighborhood dotted with restaurants, pool halls, theaters, and shops—many African American owned—Boasting two dozen active nightclubs and music joints within its one square mile. Although it has been commemorated in songs, poems, and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", few people today know of the rich history of the Fillmore and its musical legacy because all but the fabled rock venue Fillmore Auditorium vanished abruptly and so thoroughly due to redevelopment in the 1960s. Prepare for its return!