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Nightclubs Charged With Selling Liquor
In 1928 Rufus Rockhead applied for a beer license, only to be told by the commissioner, “You know we don’t give licenses to coloured people.” Undeterred, Rockhead spent eleven months navigating bureaucracy, leveraging connections, and persistently…
Rockhead’s Paradise told by Anne Rockhead
In 1928, Rufus Rockhead purchased the Mountain Hotel at the corner of Mountain and Saint-Antoine, laying the foundation for what would become one of Montreal’s most important cultural venues. Before securing this property, he had tried to buy a…
Rockhead's Paradise Ad
Rockhead's Paradise holds a significant place in history, with its owner, Rufus Rockhead, being Montreal’s first Black nightclub owner, and likely the first in Canada. Rockhead’s club was one of the few venues of its time that welcomed everyone,…
Rufus Rockhead Recruitment Draft
Rufus Rockhead, founder of popular nightclub Rockhead’s Paradise joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1918. Serving with the Canadian Forestry Corps in France, Rockhead cut down trees and would process them for the construction of barracks,…