Deep Deuce

Author Ralph Waldo Ellison was raised in the area until after his father died and wrote about the neighborhood.

Notable musicians that contributed to the rich jazz history of Deep Deuce includes singer Jimmy Rushing,[3] swing and jazz guitarist Charlie Christian,[4] saxophonist Lester Young,[5] the famous Blue Devils,[6] Count Basie, Gonzelle White, King Oliver's bands as well as Ida Cox, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith.

[7] Much of the neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for I-235 in the 1980s, but the current downtown boom and renaissance has made the area attractive to developers once again.

[8] African-American writer Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man, wrote a poem in tribute to the Deep Deuce in 1953.

It was an African-American theatre that initially presented vaudeville as well as movies and was part of the TOBA chain of African-American-owned theaters.