Historic Ben Moore Hotel placed on America’s Most Endangered Places list
Reading time: 3 minutes
The beloved Ben Moore Hotel in Montgomery, Alabama — a landmark of Black history and the Civil Rights Movement — has been named one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Located at 902 High Street, the BEN Moore hotel opened its doors in 1951 under owner Matthew Franklin Moore, who named the building after his father who was born enslaved in Alabama.
About the Ben Moore Hotel
The hotel was once home to dozens of guest rooms, a restaurant, barber shops + a rooftop nightclub. During the height of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s the hotel hosted several key Civil Rights leaders and entertainers becoming known as a “headquarters for power.”
Some names that came through the Ben Moore Hotel as guests or performers included:
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Rev. Ralph Abernathy
- B.B. King
- Ruth Brown
- Little Richard
Conservation Fund and local groups partnering to save Ben Moore Hotel
In November 2025, the Conservation Fund announced it was teaming up with the Landmarks Foundation, a nonprofit community-based preservation organization located in Montgomery, to save the historic building.
“The Ben Moore Hotel is far more than a historic building, it is a living testament to the people, stories and resilience that shaped Montgomery and our nation’s history.”
“At The Conservation Fund, we move quickly to protect irreplaceable places before they’re lost, and we’re honored to partner with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help ensure the Ben Moore has a future. Its inclusion on the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list underscores both the urgency of protecting this remarkable landmark and the extraordinary opportunity we have, together with the community, to preserve its legacy for generations to come.”
Phillip Howard, director of the Legacy Places Initiative at The Conservation Fund
Most Endangered Historic Places need support
According to the National Trust, Since its debut in 1988, the annual list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places has garnered support for more than 350 sites located all across the country.
Recent local historic places saved by the Endangered Historic Places campaign include: Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma and Selma to Montgomery March Camp Sites.
In addition to the hotel, 10 other historic places across the country made the National Trust’s Most Endangered Places list.
- Tule Lake Segregation Center (Modoc County, California)
- Angel Island Immigration Station (Tiburon, California)
- Swansea Friends Meeting House (Somerset, Massachusetts)
- Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs (Detroit, Michigan)
- Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape (New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah)
- Women’s Rights National Historical Park (Seneca Falls, New York)
- Stonewall National Monument (New York, New York)
- The President’s House Site (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield (Heath Springs, South Carolina)
- El Corazón Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesús (Ruidosa, Texas)
All 11 sites will receive a one-time grant of $25,000 from the National Trust.
To learn more about America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, visit: www.SavingPlaces.org/11Most.
