1890 - 1912
—Lower Downtown Walking Tour —
'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| HM Number | HM1TBV |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Placed By | Lower Downtown Historic District |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Thursday, July 28th, 2016 at 5:02pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 13S E 500531 N 4400402 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 39.75353333, -104.99380000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 45.212', W 104° 59.628' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 45' 12.72" N, 104° 59' 37.68" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 303, 720 |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling South |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 1949 Market St, Denver CO 80202, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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