When Thelma Stone opened a restaurant in her home and converted vacant rooms into a boarding house in 1949, she was turning economic necessity into economic opportunity.

Her story will feel familiar to entrepreneurs who have built businesses despite limited access to capital, institutional support, or traditional pathways to ownership. At a time when Black entrepreneurs faced significant barriers to business ownership, Stone created what would become a much-loved hospitality institution on the East End of Bluefield, West Virginia.

Stone created a place for Black travelers passing through Southern West Virginia who were not always welcome at other hotels, restaurants, and establishments because of their race. Hotel Thelma's inclusion in the

Green Book

reflects that history. During its years of operation, the property also hosted prominent performers traveling through the region, including Etta James, Sam Cooke, Little Richard, and Tina Turner.

More than half a century after Hotel Thelma closed, a new chapter is taking shape. Reverend James Mitchell, whose parish church owns the property, and Brian Tracey of the Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Corporation have helped advance a plan to bring the historic structure back into productive use. Working alongside more than 23 capital partners, the project will repurpose the property into 10 affordable apartments and Cafe Thelma.

The redevelopment is not simply about preserving a historic building. It is about returning an important property to active use while maintaining its connection to the people and history that made it significant in the first place. This work recently received additional recognition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation through an African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund grant. The award will support the opening of Cafe Thelma and help restore an important community-serving use to the property.

Projects like Hotel Thelma illustrate what historic preservation finance can accomplish when public, private, nonprofit, and community partners work together. A building that sat unused for decades is being positioned to provide affordable housing, support neighborhood activity, and preserve an important chapter of Bluefield's history.

At RDP, we are proud to be one of the many capital partners supporting the effort to give Hotel Thelma a productive new life while honoring the legacy Thelma Stone created there more than 75 years ago.

Check out the recognition

.