Randolph’s Tavern: A Neighborhood Business at Alvasia and Dixon

During the 1930s and 1940s, Randolph’s Beer Tavern stood near the intersection of Alvasia and Dixon streets in Henderson. Operated by Dorsey P. Randolph, it was one of the city’s Black-owned businesses during the era of segregation.

Although called a tavern, Randolph’s advertised itself as more than a place to purchase beer. One newspaper advertisement welcomed customers with barbecue, sandwiches, pastries, cigars and soft drinks, describing the establishment simply as “a good place to eat.”

Federal records provide a glimpse of the proprietor. Dorsey Randolph was born in Henderson on January 21, 1903. The 1940 census identified him as the manager of a lunchroom, while his brother Herbert worked there as a waiter. Randolph’s 1942 draft registration listed him as self-employed at 400 South Alvasia Street. By 1950, the census still recorded him as the manager of a tavern, suggesting that the business remained in operation for many years.

Randolph’s Tavern also appeared several times in local news reports. In July 1937, sixteen-year-old Lee Emory Cook was fatally wounded during a shooting inside the establishment. In February 1938, Robert Randolph and Richard Marshall captured an armed robbery suspect who entered the tavern and delivered him to officers at a nearby police call box. Three months later, J. D. Alves was killed on the sidewalk outside the business following an argument over a pistol.

The surviving advertisement, census records, draft card and newspaper stories preserve only fragments of Randolph’s Tavern. Together, however, they document a long-running neighborhood business and provide another glimpse into the commercial and social life of Henderson’s African American community during the first half of the twentieth century.

Sources: United States census records, Dorsey Randolph’s World War II draft registration card, Sanborn fire insurance maps, and articles from the Henderson Morning Gleaner, 1937–1938.