Is now a museum and interpretive center -
for a tour please call 662-624-7717
Step back in time and immerse yourself in a truly authentic Delta blues experience like no other. Since 1944, the Riverside Hotel has provided lodging in the Delta for traveling musicians and like-minded folk. Its historical significance and contribution to the blues is signified by its designation on the famed Mississippi Blues Trail.
The original structure served as the G. T. Thomas Afro-American Hospital. On September 26, 1937, the Empress of the Blues Bessie Smith was taken to the hospital where died after a car accident outside of Clarksdale. The room where she passed now serves as a shrine to her spirit and the blues. In 1943, Mrs. Z. L. Ratliff transformed the hospital into a hotel, extending the building to include 20 guest rooms over two floors and has remained in the hands of the Ratliff family since 1957.
As one of the only African American hotels during segregationist times in Mississippi, the Riverside Hotel was very much a safe haven (including listing in the famed Green Book), where black artists who visited Clarksdale could stay. Legendary artists such as Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sam Cooke, Ike Turner, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Robert Nighthawk, to name just a few all stayed at the Riverside Hotel.
Currently the Riverside is not operating as a Hotel - as it is undergoing some repairs. - June 20, 2026
615 Sunflower Avenue Clarksdale https://www.riversideclarksdale.com/history