The Uptown Club was the cultural center for Chestertown’s African American community. The Uptown Club was a restaurant and bar, and a spot for live music that catered to the African American community in Chestertown. The Uptown Club sat on the northwest corner of College Avenue and Calvert Street, and was owned by Charlie Graves, a World War 2 Veteran who also owned the concrete club in town. Although the small club didn’t look like much from the outside, it had a profound impact on the community as it served as a safe haven for the African American to escape reality even if it was just for the time.

The club was a part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit”, which was made up of bars, restaurants, bookstores, theaters, and nightclubs that all hosted Black artists. This circuit was essential to the survival of Black artists at this time due to the Recording Industry Aparetheid, which relegated Black music to a Black audience, and only allowed music produced by African Americans to air from midnight until dawn. African American artists couldn’t break into the white circuit, so they formed their own. Artists such as Etta James, BB King, The Franklin Girls, Fats Domino, James Brown, and Otis Redding all sang at the Uptown Club as small artists during their time on the Circuit.

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