Red-Light District

Red-Light District. Rhyolite. , You are currently standing in the middle of Rhyolite's Red-Light District. , Rhyolite was officially surveyed as a town in February 1905, and a Board of Trade was organized in December of that same year. However, Nye County did not officially recognize the board for almost two years until July 1907. , In the absence of Nye County leadership, the Board of Trade made it a priority to control the spread of the Red-Light District. The district was designated between Colorado and Broadway Avenues and from Amargosa Street to the east; however, a few houses of ill-repute had crossed the boundaries to ply their trade in the more decent sections of town. , Many residents complained and, eventually, the Miners Union worked with the Board of Trade "for the protection of our wives, our mothers, and our sisters." , The establishments and the women who worked in them were segregated from the rest of town. The women were discouraged from frequenting saloons and from living or even shopping outside of the Red-Light District. , Some Rhyolite residents recalled the prostitutes as charitable and kind, but also as victims of easy money and bad fortune. , Many of the most successful businesses in Rhyolite were located in the Red-Light District. In 1906, the tax assessor valued Maggie Keely's brothel at $6,490. The Porter Brothers' Store, in comparison, was valued at $6,988. The following year, Mabel Vaughn's Jewel Consolidated brothel was valued at $7,400, while the Montgomery Shoshone Mine (excluding mineral rights) was valued at just $6,400.