By Mike Kinney
What was left of one of Richmond’s most significant Black history landmarks was lost in a blaze on Tuesday, Sept. 4, when remnants of the historic International Hotel burned to the ground along Ethel Dotson South between Carlson Boulevard and Wall Street.
Richmond Fire Chief Angel Osorio said crews arrived shortly after 5 p.m. to find what remained of the structure fully collapsed. “We sent five fire engines, one ladder truck and two of our battalion chiefs, and El Cerrito Fire Department sent an engine,” Osorio said. “Two adjacent structures that were under construction from being burned in the original fire back in April 2023 were damaged from this fire as well. The firefighter crews worked hard to save those adjacent structures in a very dangerous fire.” The fire chief commended the 27 firefighters for their work to contain it. He noted the cause is being investigated.
Deputy Chief Rico Rincon and Chief Osorio coordinated operations at the scene. The chief added that the City’s Public Works Department provided heavy equipment to help remove debris and give crews better access to problem areas.
The International Hotel, built around 1900, once served as a gathering place and boarding house for Black railroad porters during the height of Richmond’s Pullman era. Beginning in 1924, members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union chartered under the American Federation of Labor, ate, socialized, and organized there. At that time, the nearby Pullman Hotel on Carlson housed white workers, while the International Hotel became a vital social hub for Black porters, featuring a large reception hall and 20 second-story rooms.
In September 2021, South Street was renamed to Ethel Dotson South, due to the hotel’s location and its significance to the local Black community. Unfortunately in April 2023, the building was destroyed by a multi-alarm fire. By September 2023, concerns were raised about the property’s future, and two months later efforts had shifted toward preservation of the site’s legacy.
As reported in the Standard in June 2025, the hotel fire is part of a larger pattern of historic-structure fires in Richmond, prompting increased calls by city leaders to bolster preservation efforts for such culturally important sites.
