The Rainbow Inn

The Rainbow Inn was a historic hotel and restaurant in Petoskey, Michigan, operated from 1950 to 1965 by William T. West and his wife, Gail West. It was established during the postwar expansion of northern Michigan resort tourism, when Petoskey and the surrounding Little Traverse Bay region attracted seasonal visitors from cities including Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis. The business occupied a three-story wooden building at 1630 Clarion Avenue. The structure had originally been built in the late nineteenth century as the residence of the Bauerle family, associated with Petoskey’s wooden-ware manufacturing industry, and was later adapted for hospitality use. The Rainbow Inn’s importance derived from both its commercial role and the racial environment in which it operated. Although northern Michigan was marketed as a summer destination for affluent white vacationers, Black visitors, domestic workers, chauffeurs, cooks, and other resort employees frequently faced exclusion or informal discrimination at hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodations. In that context, the Wests created a lodging and dining establishment where African American travelers could stay and eat with greater security and dignity. The inn also served local Native American customers and attracted some white hunters and fishermen, particularly during the spring and autumn seasons. Its name expressed the founders’ aspiration that the establishment could welcome people of different racial backgrounds, even though its principal clientele consisted of Black vacationers and seasonal workers. William T. West had worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad system and was described as a retired railway porter and chef. His experience in railway service and hospitality gave him insight into the travel patterns of people moving through the northern resort corridor. He and Gail West came from Columbus, Ohio, and judged that the seasonal economy could sustain a Black-owned hotel and restaurant. The inn was located near Victory Lanes bowling alley, another local venue where people of color were welcomed, and formed part of a small network of establishments that served Black visitors in and around Petoskey and Harbor Springs. The business operated during the final years of legally and socially enforced segregation in American public accommodations. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other businesses covered by interstate commerce. This legislation changed the hospitality landscape by requiring many establishments to open their services to customers regardless of race. Such legal change reduced the need for businesses created specifically to provide safe accommodation to Black travelers, although it did not erase discrimination immediately. The Rainbow Inn ended abruptly on March 9, 1965, when a kitchen-stove fire destroyed the building. Firefighters were unable to control the blaze after arriving, in part because the old structure was largely wooden and had undergone numerous renovations over the years. The inn did not reopen. Its destruction, only months after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and during a broader transformation of American travel and resort life, marked the disappearance of an important local Black hospitality institution. No current operating business, corporate successor, public listing, or official website is identified in the supplied reference material.

The Rainbow Inn was created in Petoskey, Michigan, during a period when the northern Lower Peninsula was becoming an increasingly popular summer destination. Petoskey’s position on Little Traverse Bay and its connections to regional rail and lake transportation had attracted visitors since the late nineteenth century. By the 1950s, vacationers from major Midwestern cities were arriving for seasonal relief, while wealthy families brought domestic workers and chauffeurs to their summer homes and resort accommodations. This tourist economy did not provide equal access to Black travelers or Black workers. Discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other businesses remained common across the Midwest, including in small resort communities. African American travelers relied on personal networks and guidebooks such as the Negro Motorist Green Book to identify places where they could obtain lodging, food, fuel, and other services without humiliation or refusal. In the Petoskey area, available establishments serving Black customers included the Tip Top Tavern, Ruby’s near Harbor Springs, and Mrs. Murray’s Tea Room. The Rainbow Inn became one of the area’s most significant Black-owned hospitality venues. The inn was founded in 1950 by William T. West and Gail West, a married couple from Columbus, Ohio. William West had worked in the Pennsylvania Railroad system and was identified as a retired railway porter and chef. The couple believed that the seasonal visitor economy could support a hotel and restaurant catering to African American travelers and resort employees. They selected the name Rainbow Inn to suggest a welcoming place for people of different races. In practice, its principal customers were Black tourists, chauffeurs, maids, cooks, and other seasonal workers. Local Native American patrons also used the establishment, and white hunters and fishermen reportedly stayed there during the spring and fall. The business operated from a three-story wooden building at 1630 Clarion Avenue. The property had originally been constructed in the late 1880s as the mansion of the Fredrick Bauerle family, whose wealth was associated with a wooden-ware factory. After the Wests acquired and adapted the property, successive renovations helped convert the residence into a hotel and restaurant. Its location near Victory Lanes bowling alley placed it close to another Petoskey venue understood to welcome people of color. The Rainbow Inn’s role changed as the civil-rights movement produced federal legal reforms. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only months before the inn’s destruction. Title II barred racial discrimination in many public accommodations engaged in interstate commerce, including hotels and restaurants. The law challenged the exclusionary practices that had made specialized Black-owned lodging essential. It did not instantly eliminate racism or guarantee equal treatment everywhere, but it helped initiate a broader opening of American hospitality, entertainment, and travel venues. On March 9, 1965, a kitchen-stove fire spread through the Rainbow Inn. Firefighters could not save the building, which was largely wooden and had been modified repeatedly over its long history. The structure was totally destroyed, ending the business after approximately fifteen years of operation. The inn was not rebuilt according to the supplied historical account. Its story connects the growth of northern Michigan tourism with the parallel history of Black entrepreneurship, segregated travel, community self-reliance, and the transition toward legally integrated public accommodations.

• 1965

  The inn is destroyed by fire

  [1]The Rainbow Innen.wikipedia.org

  A kitchen-stove fire on March 9 destroyed the building and brought the Rainbow Inn’s operating history to an end.

• 1964

  Civil Rights Act of 1964 is enacted

  [1]The Rainbow Innen.wikipedia.org

  Federal civil-rights legislation prohibits racial discrimination in covered hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodations, changing the environment in which the inn operated.

• 1950

  The Rainbow Inn opens

  [1]The Rainbow Innen.wikipedia.org

  William T. West and Gail West opened the hotel and restaurant in Petoskey to serve Black travelers and seasonal resort workers.

• 1880

  The future inn building is constructed

  [1]The Rainbow Innen.wikipedia.org

  The three-story wooden structure later used by the Rainbow Inn was built in the late nineteenth century as the Bauerle family mansion.

• 1875

  Petoskey develops as a summer resort

  [1]The Rainbow Innen.wikipedia.org

  Petoskey’s emergence as a Lake Michigan resort helped create the seasonal tourism economy in which the Rainbow Inn later operated.

A Black-owned, inclusive hospitality establishment providing lodging and dining in a northern Michigan resort market where African American travelers often had limited access to public accommodations.

• Hospitality · 1950

  Rainbow Inn Hotel

  The lodging operation provided accommodation in Petoskey for African American tourists, domestic workers, chauffeurs, cooks, and other seasonal visitors who could face exclusion at white-owned hotels. The inn also accommodated some white hunters and fishermen during the less intensive spring and autumn seasons.

• Restaurant · 1950

  Rainbow Inn Restaurant

  The restaurant operated as part of the hotel and offered a dependable dining venue for Black visitors and local customers in a region where African Americans often could not count on equal service at downtown businesses. Native American patrons and some white outdoor visitors also used the establishment.

• 1965

  Operations end after the Clarion Avenue fireOther

  Background

  The hotel occupied an old, predominantly wooden structure that had undergone multiple renovations.

  Action taken

  After a kitchen-stove fire on March 9, firefighters were unable to prevent the complete destruction of the building, and the business ceased operating.

  Aftermath

  The Rainbow Inn did not reopen, becoming a historical example of Black hospitality in northern Michigan during the segregation and civil-rights era.

  Source

• 1950

  Open a Black-owned resort hotel and restaurant in PetoskeyStrategy

  Background

  The Wests identified demand among African American tourists and the Black seasonal workforce serving northern Michigan’s resort economy, despite widespread discrimination in public accommodations.

  Action taken

  William and Gail West established the Rainbow Inn as a lodging and dining business whose name conveyed an aspiration toward cross-racial welcome while primarily serving Black travelers and workers.

  Aftermath

  The inn operated for about fifteen years and became an important local hospitality venue before being destroyed by fire in 1965.

  Source

1. 1The Rainbow Innen.wikipedia.org