Houston In The 1910s

[57Tbird]

I looked at the George Fuermann book "Houston: Land of the Big Rich" and he said the red light district was on Howard Street which was the street in Fourth Ward just to the south of the old Cemetery on Valentine.

Oh! So Fuermann actually said Howard was north of the cemetery instead of south, as you mentioned here. I had wondered about that.

[isuredid]

Oh! So Fuermann actually said Howard was north of the cemetery instead of south, as you mentioned here. I had wondered about that.

Fuermann didn't give a direction. I was turned around on the map by Valentine Street.

[dbigtex56]

Fuermann didn't give a direction. I was turned around on the map by Valentine Street.

What an amazing document! Such a cast of charectors! I've taken the liberty of transcribing your scan:

there, which swayed hope full in the unpredictable whimsey of law and order until the late thirties when the street was destroyed to make room for the huge San Filipe housing project.

The erection of San Felipe was the beginning of a less extravagant era for this particular branch of Houston's sin, and never was this more clear than one day in 1950 when two young prostitutes were jailed for shoplifling. "For us," one of them complained to a cop, "things are so tough here that we have to steal to make a living." But the two girls were young, and experience is the best teacher. The city's veterans of the oldest profession were still finding ways to make ends meet in the early 1950s.

Most of the scattered brothels in Houston in 1951 though sadly run-of-the-mill, compared to their former luxury, are run by madams who have been active for at least a quarter of a century. Two of them were spangled operators during Howard Street's heyday, and at the midpoint of the twentieth century, they are the only two who are rich in cash and legend.

The richest and the best known is a shrewd, smart woman Negro woman in her seventies who began in a small way on Howard Street in the 1890's. The citizens know less and speculate more about Addie Sasser than about any other character in the history of the city's bawdyhouses. Addie showed from the start two talents which were to endear her to several thousand Houston males: uncommonly artful discretion and the ability to get the most spectacular girls. She moved to a huge, old-fashioned house on Bastrop Street when Howard Street folded, and there she built an immense 12-story garage so her customers could park their cars in seclusion, painted the house a shiny white, and put striped awnings above every window.

At least one of her rooms is a marvel of Victorian splendor,

(I'll do more later)

[FilioScotia]

Lost in Transcription?

"The eradication(??) of San Felipe was the beginning of a less extravagant era for this particular branch of Houston's sin."

Look again suredid. Enlarge that page again and you'll see that it says "the erection of San Felipe etc etc etc.

I'm old enough to remember reading George Fuermann's columns, and I recall his fondness for sly and mildly risque puns and jokes. I know he was referring to the construction of the old San Felipe Courts -- now Allen Parkway Village -- but I'm betting that it was NOT by accident or chance that he used the word "erection" when writing about the city's old Red Light District. No, that was deliberate.

Howard Street -- which went east-west -- doesn't exist anymore. Several north-south streets on that old Sanborn Map -- Crosby, Arthur, Burton (now Buckner) and Valentine -- are still there , but only Valentine and Crosby extend north of West Dallas.

I see on the latest Google map of that area that everything west of Heiner, east of Gillette, and north of West Dallas -- an entire neighborhood that was the old Red Light District in days of yore -- is now occupied by Allen Parkway Village, the City of Houston's Public Works Department and the Federal Reserve Bank. There's no trace of it anymore. A pity.

[dbigtex56]

"The eradication(??) of San Felipe was the beginning of a less extravagant era for this particular branch of Houston's sin."

Look again suredid. Enlarge that page again and you'll see that it says "the erection of San Felipe etc etc etc.

I'm old enough to remember reading George Fuermann's columns, and I recall his fondness for sly and mildly risque puns and jokes. I know he was referring to the construction of the old San Felipe Courts -- now Allen Parkway Village -- but I'm betting that it was NOT by accident or chance that he used the word "erection" when writing about the city's old Red Light District. No, that was deliberate.

Howard Street -- which went east-west -- doesn't exist anymore. Several north-south streets on that old Sanborn Map -- Crosby, Arthur, Burton (now Buckner) and Valentine -- are still there , but only Valentine and Crosby extend north of West Dallas.

I see on the latest Google map of that area that everything west of Heiner, east of Gillette, and north of West Dallas -- an entire neighborhood that was the old Red Light District in days of yore -- is now occupied by Allen Parkway Village, the City of Houston's Public Works Department and the Federal Reserve Bank. There's no trace of it anymore. A pity.

Thanks for pointing out my error in transcription - I've made the correction.

I agree, his choice of words is pretty funny in this context.

[plumber2]

WOW!! How long has Westheimer been around?!! I found it on this map!

I was always told (urban legend probably) that Westheimer Rd. was named after a farmer whose property is the current Lamar High School.

[Heights2Bastrop]

I believe Westheimer Road was named for the family that owned a large section of land in that area. I thought

[SunKing]

Shepherd's Damn?? Road

The following was taken from Buffalo Bayou - An Echo of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings

In the 1870's, Houston businessman D. P. Shepherd began to build a sawmill and grist mill complex at the present location of the Shepherd Drive bridge. He had a dam built across the bayou, but financial difficulties caused the venture to fail and the mills were never completed. The dam, however, created a small lake on the bayou that was a popular swimming hole even until the 1920's. The road to Shepherd's dam came up from the south at San Felipe Road (now West Dallas Avenue) and was called Shepherd's Dam Road. It connected with Brunner Avenue on the north side. When the development of the area both north and south of the bayou called for a major thoroghfare, the combined roadway was named Shepherd Drive.

[Subdude]

Interesting how Shepherd crosses the bayou then comes to a dead end, and South Shepherd is a block or so west. Today the shift in alignment is not as apparent since the curved section of the road was built connecting the sections between Allen Parkway and West Dallas.

Surprising how many name changes there have been. I didn't realize that part of Fairview was once Minnesota Ave.

[Heights2Bastrop]

From An Echo of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings

Although the financial problems wrecked the plan, the dam became known as Shepherd's Dam and the impounded water became a popular swimming hole. The failure of his plan did not escape local ridicule, either. The 1913 J. M. Kelsen Map of Houston cleverly labeled the road to the dam as "Shepherd's Damn Road."

[HAM boss]

Westheimer Road was indeed named for the large farm that belonged to Michael Westheimer, a German immigrant to Houston well before the Civil War. He had a large stable just off market square, and later an undertakers business, presumably not connected. The stable business grew into Westheimer Transfer and Storage. On the farm, which was located right about where Lamar HS is, he opened a school for his kids and the kids of other German immigrants.

[Don Julio]

I always assumed that Houston had a "red light district" in the early 1900s, but have never found a mention of one anywhere. It was the local author and historian, Mack McCormick, who revealed that it was located in the Fourth Ward area and was called "The Reservation." He did extensive research on this in the 1960s and interviewed several old-timers who remembered it. There was still one remaining "sporting house" operating at that time.

I understand it was located in the area that later became the San Felipe Courts (Allen Parkway Village).

Does anyone else know anything about "The Reservation"?

[musicman]

there's a thread here that talks about a red light district.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Here is some mention of the Red Light District of 1913

On March, 30, 1908, Houston City Council passed an ordinance establishing a segregated vice district.

The Houston Post reported the move was in response to the petitions of several residents throughout the city that action needed to be done to "relieve their surroundings of the immoral element that has overflowed from the places formally understood to be set apart for them."

The City Council resolution states that "such houses are scattered throughout the city and in many cases in residence sections and in the neighborhood of public schools." It went on to conclude that prostitution was creating a "menace to public order and decency, to the sanctity of the home and to the moral welfare of the young."

So where was this segregated vice district?

http://bayoucityhistory.blogspot.com/2007/...issue-1-of.html

[Vertigo58]

I know for a fact that Congress Avenue was a very well known pick up location for "ladies of the night" during the 1940's-50's.

Jokes were circulated all the time about this local.

Might have been kind of neat to see movie starlet look-a-likes roaming that area. Bet some old retired cops could tell some spicy stories. Oooo la-la!

[TJones]

Why it is right HERE: http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband#mvt=m&...61527&mag=3

Click the link, the area is just west of the I-45 & 75. signs on that map, just south of the Allen Pkwy.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Found only an index on this don't know if it's related or not.

XIV - Vol 3 - 1992 - Mackey, Thomas C. - Thelma Denton and Associates: Houston's Red Light Reservation and a Question of Jim Crow

[Mark F. Barnes]

[houstonmacbro]

Here is some mention of the Red Light District of 1913

On March, 30, 1908, Houston City Council passed an ordinance establishing a segregated vice district.

The Houston Post reported the move was in response to the petitions of several residents throughout the city that action needed to be done to "relieve their surroundings of the immoral element that has overflowed from the places formally understood to be set apart for them."

The City Council resolution states that "such houses are scattered throughout the city and in many cases in residence sections and in the neighborhood of public schools." It went on to conclude that prostitution was creating a "menace to public order and decency, to the sanctity of the home and to the moral welfare of the young."

So where was this segregated vice district?

http://bayoucityhistory.blogspot.com/2007/...issue-1-of.html

"immoral" ???

Ha!

I know for a fact that Congress Avenue was a very well known pick up location for "ladies of the night" during the 1940's-50's.

Jokes were circulated all the time about this local.

Might have been kind of neat to see movie starlet look-a-likes roaming that area. Bet some old retired cops could tell some spicy stories. Oooo la-la!

And I know that certain parts of mid-town (especially along San Jacinto) are now pickup spots for ... male companions.

[FilioScotia]

I always assumed that Houston had a "red light district" in the early 1900s, but have never found a mention of one anywhere. It was the local author and historian, Mack McCormick, who revealed that it was located in the Fourth Ward area and was called "The Reservation." He did extensive research on this in the 1960s and interviewed several old-timers who remembered it. There was still one remaining "sporting house" operating at that time. I understand it was located in the area that later became the San Felipe Courts (Allen Parkway Village).

You nailed it. That's precisely where it was. The area that was Houston's infamous red-light district of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is now Allen Parkway Village.

It was bounded on the east by Heiner, on the south by West Dallas, on the west by Gillette, and Buffalo Bayou on the north. Allen Parkway didn't exist then, so the neighborhood extended farther north toward the bayou than AP Village does now.

In fact, the old map posted by Mark Barnes shows no less than five east-west streets between West Dallas (San Felipe) and the bayou. That neighborhood went right up to the bayou banks. It was at least half again as big as it is now.

My point is there were a lot more streets and houses in the old red-light district than we can imagine today, so it must have been a busy place in its hey-day. No doubt there was some red-light spillover into the neighborhood south of West Dallas, but most of the brothels were between West Dallas and the Bayou.

That area is now occupied by AP Village, the Federal Reserve Bank and the City of Houston's Public Works Department. There's no trace of the old Red Light District. A pity.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Here's what it says for those that don't want to register:

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Date: SUN 06/09/1985

Section: 1

Page: 1

Edition: 2 STAR

Ashes of past sifted at site for center

By BOB TUTT

Staff

"My guess is that somebody who lived there died of yellow fever, and the house was burned."

RESEARCHERS who probed the ashes of a long-ago house fire at the site of the new George R. Brown Convention Center on the east side of downtown say the house may have been deliberately set on fire because some of its residents were yellow fever victims.

The undisturbed condition of the house's charred remains, discovered under a parking lot at the northwest corner of Crawford and McKinney, indicate they were covered with a foot of dirt immediately after the fire.

Anthropologist Kenneth L. Brown, director of an archaeological study of the area, says that, as best as can be determined, the fire occurred in 1859. The story of the fire probably will never be known with certainty, but Brown has deduced a possible explanation.

They didn't poke around in the ashes as you might expect to try to recover the glassware, which was very expensive at the time," he said. My guess is that somebody who lived there died of yellow fever, and the house was burned along with all the personal belongings in it."

In the mid-19th century, people had not yet learned that a mosquito-borne virus caused yellow fever. In some cases the personal belongings of fever victims were burned after their deaths in the belief that would protect others. In this case, Brown says, a whole residence might have been torched for that purpose.

Records show the house belonged to William Thompson. He appears to be the same William Thompson who, with his family, turned up as a Galveston resident in the 1860 census. Brown theorizes there might be a connection between this Thompson and a Mr. Thompson" and a T. Thompson" listed as yellow fever victims in Houston newspapers in October 1859.

Discovery of the burned house came as a surprise because historical records didn't mention it. Above remains of the fire were some remains of another house built on the same spot in 1865.

Investigating the fire turned out to be part of the study the Texas Antiquities Committee commissioned to determine the impact on the city's archaeological heritage of construction of the $104.4 million convention center. To preserve things that might have historic importance, state law requires such a determination when public projects are constructed.

The east side of downtown that includes the 13-block construction area once was home to middle- and upper-class merchants and shop and saloon keepers. In the 1890s, however, a growing number of small shops sprang up there, the large, regal residences began to be divided into apartments, and hotels and brothels began operating.

In the 20th century, the residential and commercial mix continued, and long before that part of town was proposed for the convention center, much of it was blighted.

The contract for the study went to Brown, chairman of the Anthropology Department at the University of Houston-University Park, and another UH anthropologist, Randolph Widmer. Assisted primarily by UH students, they began exploratory digs in the construction area last August. Parking lots covered most of the area.

Brown says the study has caused no delays in construction, scheduled for completion in August 1987.

The work has yielded about a million artifacts, including an 1857 quarter, scores of bottles and bits and pieces of glassware, old nails and other metal scraps, a carved phallic effigy" found in a cistern at a site where a brothel once operated and items that span the full history of Anglo occupation of this portion of the Houston area."

These finds are in boxes in two big storerooms at UH. The tedious job of sifting through them and analyzing their significance conceivably could take several years.

Barring new discoveries unearthed during construction, the researchers may end their digging in a matter of weeks when excavation is completed at the site of what appears certain to have been a log cabin. This spot is near the southeast corner of McKinney and Chenevert, across McKinney from the site where the historic Pillot House later would be built. (That house was moved to Sam Houston Park 18 years ago.)

The cabin appears to have been built in the 1820s, maybe 10 or 15 years before the Allen brothers founded Houston in 1836. Brown says it could have been part of a farm established in what was then a very heavily wooded area.

About 150 feet from the cabin site researchers found the remains of an outhouse and another structure of undetermined nature that also could have been part of the same farm. An old well uncovered when pavement was stripped from Hamilton may also have been on the farm.

Brown says the farm may have belonged to George Harrison, an early settler in this area who later moved to what is now Brazoria County, or possibly to a squatter who crossed over into Texas when it was under Spanish or Mexican rule.

But he doubts it was a squatter because ceramic remains found in the vicinity of the cabin were from expensive glassware that probably would have belonged to someone of greater means.

In the vicinity of what appears to have been the cabin's kitchen, Brown says, we found the most incredible collection of animal bones I've ever seen. There were many big bones that may have come from cattle or even buffalo. The bones might have been used to feed hogs and dogs."

Brown says the study has thrown new light on the city's early growth. Historical accounts say the part of downtown that includes the convention center area didn't grow much until about the 1870s, he says, but the new archaeological evidence indicates substantial growth there during Houston's first two decades, then stagnated growth for more than a decade.

One explanation for the slowdown, Brown says, might be that the city was growing in other areas, but he believes the most likely reason is the yellow fever epidemics that ravaged the whole Houston area in late summer and early fall from the 1850s into the 1870s.

All the way through the late '50s, '60s and early '70s," he says, you can see in the newspapers lists of 200 to 300 people dying yearly from yellow fever. That was a sizable dent in the population."

Contrary to a popular impression, he says, Houston's growth was due to the bringing in of families. It was not a frontier cowboy town, not a town made up mostly of single men. It became a substantial city early, and stayed that way."

[Guest danax]

That area is now occupied by .......... the Federal Reserve Bank . There's no trace of the old Red Light District. A pity.

I'd say they just consolidated their operations.

[FilioScotia]

I'd say they just consolidated their operations.

LOLLL...you're right of course. Public Works and the Fed are now doing what denizens of the old "Reservation" did a century ago.

[Vertigo58]

LOLLL...you're right of course. Public Works and the Fed are now doing what denizens of the old "Reservation" did a century ago.

Even funnier is it's on the Crater Houston list. >

[Subdude]

Duplicate topics merged.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Here's a Photo fron West Dallas St. in the old Red Light District

[fortbendtomontrose]

"Eleven year old Western Union messenger #51. J.T. Marshall. Been day boy here for five months. Goes to Red Light district some and knows some of the girls."

That would explain the smile on his face.

[Poppahop]

The creator of jazz music lived there for awhile

[Mark F. Barnes]

Man that's a great article, thanks Poppa.....

[tmariar]

Be sure to read HAIFer (and Houston Chronicle history blogger) J.R. Gonzales' posts on the red-light district here and here (I didn't see a third installment).

Here are some newspaper articles that provide some additional history.