Red Light District Market Street

Red Light District Market Street. 'The wickedest street in the city' from the 1880's to 1912, Holliday (now Market Street) was awash in cheap cribs and elaborate bordellos, dance halls and seedy saloons where over 1,000 women sold their charms. In the bustling underground economy of sex and entertainment, a few enterprising ladies honed their entrepreneurial talents. Madam Belle Birnard's house at 1952 Market was a stylish Victorian with 14 rooms, 5 parlors, music and dance halls, 'Strictly First Class in Every Respect.' Mattie Silks opened her first house in the 1870's and remained in operation for almost 40 years. Mattie, who had nearly as many houses as her girls had customers in an evening and owned 2009 Market, 1957-59 Market and 2014-20 Market. She also later bought Jennie Rogers renowned House of Mirrors at 1942 Market. If the walls of these bordellos could talk, there would doubtless be a thousand love stories to tell, a thousand scandals to unleash. In 1912, a newly elected reform administration closed the cribs, cleaning up, or tearing down many of the structures. In 1913, Police Commissioner George Creel tried benevolently to establish a rehabilitation farm for fallen women, but taxpayers didn't respond well to the idea. The death knell for the Lower Downtown's red light district came not from the city government, but from the enactment of Prohibition. The entire state went dry in 1916, and the party was officially over.