Bluitt Sanitarium/R.F. Aspley Building

2034/2038 Commerce Street

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Constructed in 1904, Bluitt Sanitarium is a vernacular two-part commercial masonry building that is connected to the vernacular two-part commercial R.F. Aspley Building.  The Bluitt Sanitarium was the first medical clinic for African Americans to be built in Dallas, and the building housed offices for Dr. Benjamin Bluitt and a small group of black professionals who became very prominent members of the City's black community. It is the only building known to have been erected, owned, and operated by African American professionals this close to what was known as the "color line" in the Dallas Central Business District. More detailed information can be found in the nomination forms, below. 

Ordinance #24517

Designations: Dallas Landmark (2001), National Register of Historic Places (2005)