A small crowd of onlookers and passersby gathered along 5th Street on Monday as demolition of the historic E.F. Young Hotel got underway.

First opened in 1946, the E.F. Young Hotel was for years one of the only places in Meridian that provided lodging for traveling African Americans. Deep in the heart of Meridian’s African American Business District, the Hotel has deep roots in both the Queen City’s history and the Civil Rights era.

Over the years, the hotel hosted a number of notable people including Ella Fitzgerald, Martin Luther King Jr. and even the Harlem Globetrotters. The Young Hotel, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, continued operating until 1978 when the building was rented as office space.

The building, which fell into disrepair after years of sitting vacant, was deemed a safety hazard by the city in September 2021. A section of 25th Avenue between 5th and 6th streets has been closed ever since as the Young family, city officials and neighboring property owners worked to develop a solution.

The Young family, which continues to own the hotel, made the decision to move forward with demolishing the building after restoration and repair estimates came back cost prohibitive.

In February, the City Council voted 4-1 to condemn the event venue, “The Ruins,” which sits next door to the hotel. The council vote came after months of discussion between The Ruins owner, James Copeland, and city officials about concerns the property would be unable to stand on its own once the Young Hotel came down.

After the February vote, Councilman George Thomas called for the city to proceed with condemning the Young Hotel as well, however, no action has been taken to do so.