Opening around the turn of the century in 1906, the Hotel Hattiesburg played an important role in the history of Hattiesburg, and provided a venue for a historic recording session that some say was the birth of rock and roll music. According to a book published by Rolling Stone Magazine two songs recorded by the Mississippi Jook Band (Blind Roosevelt Graves, Uaroy Graves, and Cooney Vaughn) are identified as possibly the earliest rock and roll recordings. The Graves brothers recorded these songs in a temporary studio set up at the Hotel Hattiesburg. The hotel was later known as the Milner Hotel and was demolished in the early 1960's.
