On the heels of the Lightnin' Hopkins Historical Marker last fall and the news that historic Third Ward jazz/R&B venue the Eldorado Ballroom will dedicate its own later this spring, Rocks Off learned today that the Texas Historical Commission has approved another blues-related marker for Houston, this one to be dedicated in Fifth Ward next month.
Scheduled to be unveiled at noon Saturday, April 16, this marker will honor Don Robey, the Houston promoter and businessman whose holdings included Duke/Peacock Records and the Bronze Peacock nightclub. The site of the marker, 4120 Lyons Ave., was Robey's office during the Bronze Peacock days.
Robey kept the building when he moved Duke/Peacock's offices into the Peacock building at 2809 Erastus, it later became a doctor's office where Robey's son had a practice.
Local blues scholar Dr. Roger Wood says this latest marker is the work of his friend and former Houston Community College professor James Ford. Ford, a Fifth Ward native, has been involved in promoting black history in Houston for decades.
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