National Night Stick

Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame.

Buffalo, New York, May 1893.

May 8, 2012

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Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame.

Working-the-crowd

What an ordeal to pass through is this; said a respectable party after having got to a seat in the cars at the depot at the corner of 4th avenue and 27th street, New York, a few nights ago. The party had fallen into a swell mob, such as is organised on the instant, by smart thieves who watch for their opportunities and snatch watches, or other portable valuables, from the person of unsuspecting travellers who happen to be in a hurry. These scenes are sometimes varied with noise from the victims and violence from the party who are working the crowd, so as to render it necessary for a policeman to step in and send the victim, after a reprimand, very much humbled, to his hotel or his railroad train.

Illustrated Police News, April 11, 1872.

houses of ill repute

Buffalo, New York, May 1893 – Though it would seem to be a conflict of interest, The Christian Homestead Association produced this map of the Canal District in 1893, showing the locations of 75 houses of ill-fame, 108 saloons, 19 “free theatre saloons” and 76 more mundane retail establishments. The Erie Canal, which brought growth and prosperity to Buffalo, also brought neighborhoods like this one, and the clientele to keep them thriving. It is uncertain exactly why the CHA would create a map like this, but it must have been helpful to someone.

Source:

Grosvenor Rare Book Room