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From 1870 to 1908 Salt Lake City's primary Red Light District was Commercial Street
(now Regent Street.) It was built in 1871. It straggled on into the 1930s, but for nearly
forty years it was the citys prime location of debauchery. In the 1880's the Salt Lake
Tribune wrote that the street was a "a resort of gamblers and fast women. The Deseret
News, felt the same and wrote that the occupants of Commercial Street were "the demi-
monde, the male parasite, the dope fiend, the gambler and the begger." The district was
small an area between State Street and Main Street, no more than an alleyway that
connects 100 South to 200 South (figure a)6/10 of mile to be exact. Today only one
piece of that past remains:165 South. It meets the criteria to make it on the States
National Historical Register for its social history; criteria A, as the building is associated
with a series of events. The area should be studied more because only one building of
the cities former Red Light District is left. Without it, nothing of the time period remains
in the area. Currently, Regent Street and Plum Alley,(which runs parallel east of Regent
(figure b) are home to numerous parking structures. All that remains are a few markers
(figure c) and I believe the history of Utah's Red Light District is just as relevant as the
Brothels were first in Utah in 1858, near Camp Floyd (figure d) which is roughly forty
miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Camp Floyd was where part of the U.S. Army were
stationed after the Expedition of Utah was ended that year.1 The soldiers and their
behavior changed the whole feel of the Wasatch Front, and being under the watch of
was losing the control he had over the community, and the cause of this loss of power
was from outsiders who were moving into Zion.2 The completion of the transcontinental
Prostititues didn't appear in Salt Lake City until ten years after Brigham Young and his
followers arrived at This is the place. Two blocks south of Temple Square was an area
that held host to the worlds oldest profession. All along 200 South, Commercial Street
(now Regent), Franklin Avenue (now Edison), in the interior of Block 57 (now the
Gallivan Center), and other transient locations, all located within a few blocks in the
heart of the city.3 "Occasionally a female figure flits in from one of the side streets and
is swallowed up in the darkness of Plum Alley," wrote a reporter in the Oct. 15, 1900,
issue of The Salt Lake Tribune, "and it needs not more than one guess from the
uninitiated to tell where she has gone to.4(figure e)That phrase embodied the district,
as it is now embedded in the concrete over a hundred years later at around 100 S and
Regent.!
165 South still holds one of the original brothtels, this past summer it was put up for
sale for around 2.5 millionion dollars (figure f.) It is currently owned by Form
Development, and was built in 1894. It is the last of the building from this time period in
this area. All the others have been torn down. Most recently the building held law
offices. Before (and during and after its time as a brothel) it was a cigar store; the
Company opened up its first showroom at 165 (figure g.) Charles Lamont Felt went from
selling light bulbs and lamps from the back of his wagon to selling floor lamps and
chandeliers at the former brothel.5The Felts stayed on Commercial Street until 1976,
when 3rd generation family owners moved it to South Salt Lake (3300 South.)!
165 is now on its way to becoming a a multi-use boutique hotel.6 Outside the building
is a sign depicting the streets past to tourists who visit the city (figure h.)The buildings
outside is made up of the original brick work. Inside it has retained much of its original
ceramic, marble tile and high ceilings. The original floor plan is mostly untouched, other
Other known brothels from the area were at 167 and 169 Regent Street. In 1893 a
two-story building was built by Gustav S. Holmes at 167 Regent Street. In 1899 another
building, similar to 167, was built by Stephen Hayes at 169 Regent Street. The upstairs
of the houses were known as the "parlor house, called because the girls received their
patrons in the parlor. Besides the parlors there was large center room, with ten cribs."
Each crib or room only had space for a bed, chair, dresser and washstand. The
contractor of 169 Regent was one of Salt Lakes well known architect of the time, Walter
E. Ware.!
shops, and liquor stores. Like many of the other houses of ill repute the street level
5 http://feltlighting.com/about.asp
6 Isaac Riddle, Building Salt Lake, April 18, 2016
The upstair second stories were rented out nightly to prostitutes who would sit on the
Regent Street, is the center for publishing of Salt Lake City's two daily newspapers,
and has been so since the early 1900s. Today it is also home of Regent Street Parking
and the Eccles Theater. Salt Lake Government in an effort to make the city more
walkable, plan on revamping the street into an outdoor plaza (figure i.)!
Prositutution has always been a part of history. The American west was ripe with it.
The Utah frontier was no different. While it was illegal, it was well known and tolerated.
Salt Lake cities population grew five fold in the years 1880-1910, increasing the
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had their annual conference. According
to a report in the Deseret News, discussed at the conference was the prostitution
problem that was invading the land, including the six brothels, forty bars, and numerous
gambling houses all run by non Mormons.8 There were also several one-night cribs.9
John Held Jr. wrote in his memoirs, comparing the citys night life to Sodom and
Gomorrah.10 !
Prostitution was tolerated as long as it was confined to Commercial Street (figure j.)
By keeping it to this area, it was kept away from the upstanding citizens - although it
7Eileen Hallet Stone, Living History: From fancy brothels to brick-and-mortar pens,The Salt
Lake tribune, Dec.14,2012
8Hal Schindler, The Oldest Profession's Sordid Past in Utah, http://www.sltrib.com!
10 EileenHallet Stone, Living History: From fancy brothels to brick-and-mortar pens,The Salt
Lake tribune, Dec.14,2012
was just a few short blocks from Temple Square (figure k). This was incredibly upsetting
to the Mormons. Some of the working girls were incredibly brazen and solicited men
when they walked by with their families. Somewhere in the late 1880s, prostitution was
unofficially licensed. Monthly police would "arrest" all of the madams and their girls,
fine them $50 each. After a physical exam, they would be let go, free to work with out
A formal registration system was introduced in 1908. The police kept record of the
madams the girls they had working for them and their address. Every madam and
brothel reciprocated giving the police an up to date list of the names of the girls they had
working for them. Each month, every girl had to pay a ten-dollar fine. This made up a
good part of Salt Lakes income.12 Brothels were routinely raided, and in September
1872 several houses and their furnishing were completely destroyed in a zealous raid.13!
Kate Flint, or Gentile Kate, was one madam affected by these raids. She opened
the first brothel on Commercial Street, and purchased Brigham Young's carriage after
his death (complete with mormon symbols on the doors), and would drive it along the
streets of Salt Lake. She grabbed the attention of local papers and was written up
numerous times: four times in 1872, twice in 1873, four more in 1874 and six in 1875.
Despite the bad publicity and numerous raids she refused to close down. in 1875 after
yet another raid, Kate fought back and sued. Apparently her silk underwear was torn
and a thousand dollars was stolen. She won her court date and was awarded six
11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Salt_Lake_City
12 https://heritage.utah.gov/history/history-stockade-sl-red-light-district
13 Jan MacKell ,Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains!
thousand dollars. The court stated that she was no more violating the law then Mormon
polygamist. The Salt Lake Tribune was in agreence asking, What is the difference?
Agreeing with the court was the Desert News,If Kate Flint kept a house and it was
proved that fifty men frequented it for purposes of illicit intercourse, and process could
be issued and her furniture and household goods be broken pup therefore, the same
could be done with say John Smith, who might have in his house twelve women whom
The area attracted a wide variety clientele; top-hatted gentlemen of the upper
classes, miners, cattlemen, opium addicts and beyond. In fact, it was an associate
justice of the Supreme Court who is said to have imported the first lady of the night to
Utah.15 W.W. Drummond was federally appointed by President Franklin Pierce, he thus
abandoned his family in Illinois and took up with a prostitute in Washington D.C. When
coming to Salt Lake City he introduced the prostitue not as Ada Carroll, but as "Mrs.
Justice Drummond. According to sources of the time Ada shared a seat on the court
bench with the judge. It went as far as her nudging him on the knee from time to time,
apparently to indicate the number of years he ought to mete out to miscreants before
the bar of justice.16 Drummond was also known to lecture against "the deplorable
Mormon practice of plural wifery17." Locals finally realized that Ada was not Drummonds
the closed doors. They were run by Madams, and johns would be greeted at the door by
a well dressed attendant. In his memoirs John Held Jr. wrote, that the grandness
houses surpassed those of even places like New Orleans. He saw first hand the gilded
mirrors and red velvets drapes when he accompanied his uncle on jobs to install electric
bells. Another of these extravagant house was run by Ada Wilson, one of Salt Lakes first
madams. She had a professor who played piano in the drawing room. Ada was also
known to take daily rides in a spruced up hackney-drawn dog cart. Helen Blazes, a
more conservative madam, was known to only cater to the wealthy and would only
serve wine.18!
The area was home to not only prostitutes but people of color and immigrants whom
at the time were considered non-white (primarily the Irish.) Like in other cities officials in
Utah wanted to keep prostitutesno matter their coloraway from "respectable" white
residents. They wanted them with "less desirable" immigrants, including African
Americans, Irish, and Chinese.19 Nearby Franklin Avenue was Darktown, (1910
census found only African Americans living there) and Plum Alley was Salt Lakes
Chinatown.20!
Botched abortions and murder were just a few of the things that could go wrong.
Chlaymidia, sphyliss, and gohnerea were rampant in the 19th century. Alcohol and
opiate abuse were also common. Periodic arrests and checks for infection (the citys
way of trying to regulate prostitution) did nothing to deter the ladies from working.
Disfigurement by angry johns was another danger that could befall a prostitute, suicide
was yet another. Overall, it was (and is) not the safest career choice.!
The women came from all different backgrounds and ethnicties. Many were widows
with no families. Some were divorcees, while others came out West looking for a better
life. Some were looking for a type of freedom. They were known by many names, from
prostitue to soiled doves. "To make any kind of a decent living, I have to take in more
than $100 a month," reported a streetwalker in the Dec. 19, 1902, issue of the Salt Lake
Herald. "I can buy food and coal with it, pay my $60 room rent, pay the $10 a month
required as a license [that] the police call a fine, dress myself and have spending money
for cigarettes and beer.21 The women would often move from brothel to brothel, either
for financial, legal or personal reasons. Sometimes the police would force the women to
move to other houses (again as a type of deterrent.) Madams who owned their
buildings, usually worked in the same place for decades. Elsie St. Omar (ne Anderson)
was one madam who were arrested several times for running a brothel in the District.22
21
Eileen Hallet Stone, The Salt Lake tribune, Living History: From fancy brothels to brick-and-
mortar pens, Dec.14,2012
2216 Tribune, 23, 27 August 1890; Salt Lake City Police Court, "Book of Miscellaneous
Offenses, 1891-2," Utah State Archives series 4618, p. 198.
By 1903 the area was thought to be a bit sorid. It was disreputable and was bringing
the prices of property down. Salt Lake City mayor John Bransford proposed to put the
ladies in another part of town. Belief was that prostitution could not be eliminated, and
should rather be restricted to a certain zone and regulated by periodic arrests and fines
The main source of information we have about the district comes from newspapers
(figure l.) In an newspaper article from The Salt Lake Tribune (figure m) there was an
article describing a crusade to keep the women on Commercial Street and Plum Alley.
Apparently, certain woman were working outside their assigned areas, and people
took offense to it. In 1908 historian Harold Schindler wrote, "There came a hue and cry
to 'clean up the city, it was the end of Salt Lakes downtown red light district and the
From the start the LDS Church had issue with the downtown district. But with that
came an unbelievable hypocrisy. In 1908 the city officials hired Ogden top madam, Dora
Topham, a.k.a. Belle London (figure o), to run a legal red light district the stockade,
between 500 and 600 West and 100 and 200 South. Topham agreed, and saw
prostitution as a part of life, saying,I know, and you know, that prostitution has existed
since the earliest ages, and if you are honest with yourselves, you will admit that it will
continue to exist, no matter what may be said or done from the pulpit or through the
exertions of womens clubs.23 The local authorities used the district to line their
pockets. They charged the prostitutes monthly fines, taxes and fees. These fines was a
way to try to keep the girls in line. A prostitution record was but into plan by the Salt
town. The ten dollar monthly fee, didnt do much. Nothing seemed to stop prostitution in
the capitol city.24Despite the police efforts to keep prostitution in the stockade, the
There is numerous background information about Commercial Street, but know one
has done any excavating. Research wise, I would like to put together a small team of
people (two or three, including myself.) I would would like to dig in the basement of the
Regent street building. In particular, I would like to dig through the midden heap that is
still possibly in the basement (as I have seen in many dirt basements in historic Utah
homes.) Many buildings of the time period burned their trash in the basement and to this
day there is still garbage left in the basement of old homes/buildings. I would also like to
establish a grid in square meter units, using hand tape, nails and mason lines. I would
likely use a pick and small gardening shovel to dig. I would label and categorize found
objects, and finally catalogue everything found. I would hopefully find bottlespatent
I like most scholars, would like to find diaries of the madams and the working woman.
I would also like to to find photographs, to put faces to the names. At this point there are
very few photographs of the individuals that made up the Red Light District of Salt Lake
City. These could possibly be located from local rare book dealer Ken Sanders.25 He
24 Michael Rutter, Boudoirs to Brothels: The Intimate World of Wild West Women!
25Going to Ken Sanders, I did find nude photographs from around the 1920s (based on the
hairstyle), but Mr. Sanders was not there, so I was unable to find out if the photograph was
local.
may always be aware of any diaries or letters concerning the women. I would also like
to get into contact with the Felt Electric Company Family. They may have possibly found
I would also like to look into the social backgrounds of the women. Specifically, what
led them into the life of prostitution. To do so I would start by looking into arrest records,
as well try to locate the registration records of the women. By looking into arrest records
and the lists kept of women working in brothels, we could possibly be able to go
further into their backgrounds. Finally, I would like to look into if having prostitutes work
in one area, like Salt Lakes District cuts down on violence against working women.!
I believe more research needs to be done on the individual women that worked in the
former Red Light District of Salt Lake City and the area in general. We know some
about the madams that made headlines. But what about the women behind the
madams? I want to know more about the individual women that worked here and what
they may have left behind. I would like to know their individual histories, and who they
were before they were working girls and what lead them to such dire career choices.!
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Works Cited!
! Hal SchindlerThe Oldest Profession's Sordid Past in Utah." Utah Department of Heritage and Arts. June 08,
2016. Accessed December 12, 2017. https://heritage.utah.gov/history/uhg-slt-oldest-professions-sordid-past.
!!
Issac Riddle"Historic Downtown building will find new use." Building Salt Lake. January 04, 2017.
Accessed December 12, 2017. https://www.buildingsaltlake.com/historic-downtown-building-will-find-
new-use/.!
!
Christopher Smart | The Salt Lake Tribune January 30, 2014 1:44 pm. "Salt Lake City's Regent
Street, once a haven for brothels, is getting a facelift." The Salt Lake Tribune. Accessed December 12,
2017. http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57462440&itype=CMSID.!
!
"Page 36 | Interviews with Jews in Utah." J. Willard Marriott Digital Library. Accessed December 12,
2017. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=904894.!
!
Eileen Hallet Stone The Salt Lake Tribune December 14, 2012 4:48 pm. "Living History: From fancy
brothels to brick-and-mortar pens." The Salt Lake Tribune. Accessed December 12, 2017. http://
archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=55468648&itype=CMSID.!
!
Jan MacKell, Thomas J. Noel: 9780826346100: Amazon.com: Books. Accessed December 12, 2017.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Light-Women-Rocky-Mountains/dp/0826346103.!
!
Jeff Nicols. "Stories, Memories & History - Grand Night Out." Mapping Salt Lake City. Accessed
December 12, 2017. http://www.mappingslc.org/essay/item/40-grand-night-out.!
!!
Regent Street - Salt Lake City, UT - Utah Historical Markers on Waymarking.com. Accessed December
11, 2017. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGFRF_Regent_Street_Salt_Lake_City_UT.!
!
"Salt Lake Herald. (Salt Lake City) 1901-04-13 [p 3]." Accessed December 12, 2017.!
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Utah Digital Newspapers. Accessed December 12, 2017. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/search!
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Neil Larry Shumsky and Larry M. Springer, "San Francisco's Zone of Prostitution, 1880-1934," Journal
of Historical Geography 7 no. 1 (January 1981): 71-82; and Ruth Rosen, The Lost Sisterhood:
Prostitution in America, 1900-1918!
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), 79.!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Salt_Lake_City!
! http://feltlighting.com/about.asp!
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https://preservationutah.org/images/stories/newsletters/newsletter_spring_08.pdf!