Before Maiden Lane: a street for prostitution, con games and murder Nothing good ever happened on crime ridden Morton Street

Busy shopping day on Maiden Lane even before it became a pedestrian-only street for 3 hours a day Photo shot 03/30/1950 Busy shopping day on Maiden Lane even before it became a pedestrian-only street for 3 hours a day Photo shot 03/30/1950 Photo: Barney Peterson, The Chronicle Photo: Barney Peterson, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Before Maiden Lane: a street for prostitution, con games and murder 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

In the 1800's, San Francisco's Maiden Lane was known as Morton Street. About the last thing that you would find there was a fair maiden. The women, by most newspaper accounts, were tough. They'd often beat up men who happened down the narrow lane. The fee for a good time seemed more like a formality. There was a good chance that the patron would leave a brothel minus the rest of his money and other valuables, according to reporting from the time.

Gambling was rampant, and the street was no stranger to murder and suicide. Assaults and muggings were all too commonplace. In 1882, several of the gambling dens were raided. Reports of patrons having money or other valuables stolen by the courtesans, was a very common occurrence. The earliest mention of Morton Street in the San Francisco Chronicle digital archives was in 1869, when there was a petition to change the name of the roadway from St. Mark's Place. 1872 was the earliest newspaper report of prostitution.

The prostitutes were referred to by many different names, as reported in the paper: courtesan, cyprian, siren, hag, nymph and harlot were among them. Their places of business were called "bawdy houses" and "bagnios," among other names. The johns were sometimes referred to as lovers. Many of the women used pseudonyms such as Miss Josephine.

Gambling was open and rampant. It occurred in saloons as well as in the brothels. The prostitutes often ran con games such as "bunko" and the panel game. They were more likely to be arrested for crooked gambling, assaults or robbing the customers. Instead of being arrested for prostitution, they'd be arrested and fined for vagrancy. Victims would often elect not to press charges for fear of their name being associated with the street. Burglaries were also commonplace. There was one report where a couple was home asleep when someone broke into their home and squirt chloroform into their faces.

The situation was becoming intolerable to the neighboring residents. In 1872, there was a "petition against a nuisance." Businesses in the area were fed up.

"A petition signed by sixty residents and property owners on Morton Street, has been presented to the Chief of Police, asking the suppression of houses of ill-fame on that street. With the exception of one block, consisting of nine houses, the neighborhood is respectable, and the people consider it a hardship to be obliged to submit to the annoyance of the idle and dissolute men who congregate in the vicinity. Respectable women cannot go into the street without danger of insult by the hoodlums who are attracted solely by the houses complained of. The bawds of Morton Street are becoming an intolerable nuisance to respectable people in that neighborhood."

Later that year, Chief Patrick Crowley ordered a Blockade on Morton Street

"Sometime since residents on Morton Street, better known as St. Mark's Place, petitioned Chief Crowley to cause the removal of certain bawdy houses in the neighborhood, and the last evening an officer was stationed at one of the houses to prevent entry of any visitors to the place. It is proposed to continue this blockade until the street is rid of the courtesans."

The next day Chief Crowley raised the police blockade on a number of Morton Street houses of ill-fame, the disreputable occupants having moved to less respectable quarters. But, the businesses continued to flourish on Morton Street, despite the attempts to end it, as told by this article that appeared a few years later, where police went undercover.

"Officers Rogers and Lindheimer made a journey through Morton Street last night in citizens' dress and captured three unwary females, Mary Parker, Ella Rose and Lizzie Clark, as being inmates of a house of prostitution. They deposited $60 bail each, and were released to appear today for trial, or as is more probable forfeit their bail."

These articles also showed that the blockade did very little to stop the prostitution.

"Lizzie Hall was called to answer a charge of assault to murder. She is charged with having shot a man in a house of ill-fame on Morton Street, about six weeks ago. The case has been continued several times owing to the prostrated condition of the injured man. It was ascertained yesterday that the man had disappeared, and the case was dismissed."

"A veteran hag, names Mrs. Severance, whose place of residence on Morton Street, brought up a respectable citizen inhabiting that thoroughfare on a scandalous charge. The trouble originated in the efforts of the defendant and other respectable people to suppress the infamous establishment kept by this woman. The evidence showed the charge to be entirely unfounded, but the court found the woman Severance guilty of a misdemeanor in connection with the case, and she was ordered to appear for sentence tomorrow."

The next day Clara Severance, "keeper of a disreputable den on Morton Street," was fined $10 for "throwing water on children to gratify a spite against her neighbors."

As this story that appeared in the paper on September 20, 1876 showed, the brothels weren't always run by madams. Here's a tale of a former sailor who went into what he considered to be a more lucrative business.

"Another procurer. A villain with numerous uncharged crimes against him."

"On Monday evening an individual giving the name of Martin Mace was taken into custody on a charge of felony. Attired in fashionable clothes, the circumstances tend to prove, however, that he is a consummate villain, and should have long ago been consigned to quarters in San Quentin. A few days ago the police received information that two girls were being kept against their will in a house of bad repute on Waverly Place. The report was found to be incorrect, but still lead to the arrest of Mace. The two girls had been induced by another procurer named Lawless, to go to Portland. They were not desirous to leave the current place. But, they were underage and Mace was a bad character. He was arrested on a charge of felony.

Mace was long known to police as a professional blackmailer, preying on clients, who would rather pay up than have their names revealed. Before coming to California he was a sailor before the mast. His ship went down one night with no apparent reason, and an immense sum of money was paid as insurance. He then abandoned a seafaring life and assumed proprietorship of a house of ill-fame on Morton Street, which business turned out to be much more lucrative that that of a sailor.

He dressed very neatly and had a gentlemanly look, which hid his sinister character. This led him to succeed in winning the affection s of an estimable young lady, the daughter of a respectable citizen. They were married and he took his young wife to his Morton Street residence, where they strove to inculcate in her a liking for the shameful life. She was eventually rescued by a gentleman with "benevolent propensities" and plotted with two friends to rescue the woman. They helped her escape and sent her to New York. An angered Mace then blackmailed the gentleman, who didn't want his name revealed. He agreed to pay a sum of $10,000. The two who assisted in her escape also paid unrevealed sums of money."

As this article relates, the area was even dangerous to the policemen who patrolled the area.

June 7, 1879 Rough Reception

"Yesterday morning Officer Bodwell was informed that a man had been robbed of $500 at a house of ill-fame on Morton Street. He at once went to the scene of the alleged robbery to inquire into the matter, and was attacked there by four men. The officer was forced to use his pistol, and fired four shots at his assailants, who thereupon fled. None of the shots fired are believed to have taken effect. On June 14, 1879, James Toland, the third of the four hoodlums who attacked Officer Bodwell on Morton Street a week ago, was arrested in Oakland yesterday by Detective Jones."

Years later, on December 13, 1883, another blockade was set up. This led to accusations of the police accepting bribes. A witness stated that she saw a Police Commissioner accept a bribe through one of three holes in her front door. This lead to an almost Keystone Kops scene, where a carpenter and a policeman were sent to get the door and bring it to court. The door disappeared when a prostitute distracted the carpenter. You can read the article as it appeared in the paper below.

"December 11, 1883 Where is the door? The question at present agitating the police."

"During the last two or three meeting of the Police Commissioners Officer Collins has been under investigation, charged with having received bribes from a courtesan named Maggie Kennedy, residing at 129 Morton Street. During the investigation several witnesses for the prosecution swore that they had seen Officer Collins taking money from the woman. They said they were stationed behind a door with three holes bored in it and saw the woman pay Collins the money. A great diversity of opinion as to the exact location of the holes in the door was shown by the witnesses who drew diagrams for the benefit of the Commissioners.

Last night several new witnesses were called for the defense , and they testified that they had visited the house in question and had carefully examined the door, but could not discover the three holes spoken of by the other witnesses. Furthermore, they were positive that the door had not been changed, as the doors upstairs were smaller than those on the floor below. Among the witnesses called who had examined the door was a carpenter named Robertson.

The Commissioners, anxious to ascertain the truth of the matter, sent Officer Rainsbury and the carpenter Roberson to the house to get the door and bring it before the Board. The two departed and on their errand and when they arrived at the house Rainsbury marked the door with his name. He was then sent by the carpenter to procure a wagon to convey the door to the old City Hall, which (Roberson) was taking it down. After procuring a team Officer Rainsbury drove back to the house, but found that Robertson and the door had both disappeared. Thinking that the carpenter had started off to the Commissioners' the officer made haste to the City Hall, but found that neither man nor door had arrived. He then went back to the house and met Robertson on Stockton and Sutter Street and questioned him about the door. He said that he had taken the door to the corner of the streets named and was waiting for the team, when a woman approached him and said a man wanted to see him on Morton Street. He left the door standing against a post and followed the woman, but soon found out that he had been duped. When he got back to the place where he left the door it was gone."

It afterwards was learned that three witnesses for the prosecution, Messrs. Cushman, King and Cannavan, had followed the officer and carpenter to the house. They were brought before the Commissioners, but denied all knowledge of the whereabouts of the door. They said that they had visited the house, but had been told that the officer and another man had taken the door away. Detectives were immediately sent out to hunt for the door, but returned empty handed. Accordingly the case was postponed until such time as the door can be found. Ultimately, Officer Matthew Collins was dismissed from the force by the Police Commissioners for receiving a bribe from a Morton Street woman of ill repute.

Legalize it?

There were arguments before a committee for brothels to continue operation. One police commissioner stated that if the houses were cleared from Morton Street, they would just move to another part of the city. A resident, Mr. Griffin, explained how the "families of respectable citizens are protected by the presence of these women," and next pointed out that the houses that were occupied by them were adapted to no other purpose and that they would have to be pulled down. Another resident, Mr. Shirley arose to defend the women by declaring that "they were not as bad as reported, for he had not heard any complaints of robberies and other offenses on the street." Apparently he wasn't a Chronicle subscriber.

Having relieved their minds, the members of the committee agreed that they had no jurisdiction over the matter and that the police might attend to it. It was finally agreed to recommend the passage of a resolution asking the Chief of Police to enforce the ordinances regulating houses of ill-fame. The next day, it was confirmed in the paper, that no additional legislation was needed to remove the bawdy-houses on Morton Street from Dupont (now Grant) to Stockton Streets. Current police enforcement was deemed sufficient.

November 28, 1883 "Rescuing silly girls from the clutches of the depraved creatures."

The line was drawn when children were involved. It came to Police Superintendent Moulder's attention that there was the case of prostitutes luring a couple of local school girls inside her quarters. Fortunately, Miss Castelhun, the Principal of the school, had heard of their absence and its cause. She acted promptly in the matter by going into Morton Street herself and "rescuing the silly girls from the clutches of the depraved creatures." This brought about a cry to close the businesses down.

In late 1884, the police continued to blockade Morton Street to prevent the brothels from conducting business. Despite the blockade, the prostitutes appeared to manage to conduct business somehow. The reports of the customer getting robbed persisted. In fact, it seemed like there were so many reports of customers being robbed, that the fee that was charged seemed like a formality, or minimum. If you didn't keep your eye on your pants, you were going to be relieved of the money in your wallet, or any gold in your pockets. There were ample reports of men walking down Morton Street and being dragged into the brothels and robbed. The blockade was lifted in May 1885. After the lift, there were several charges of graft, pocketing bail money and bribery against the police who ran the blockade. One officer was said to be seen kissing "Big Camille." All charges were ultimately dismissed.

Throughout the 1880's, the story doesn't change. A California Street resident was mugged by six courtesans on Morton Street. They stole his overcoat, which had a gold pocket watch and wallet with sixty dollars in it. After an officer tussled and arrested Minnie Colbey, dressed in a short dress and pink stockings, referred to as "a chubby damsel who sings the siren's song on Waverly Place," the judge suggested that the police go after the "opulent property owners who leased the houses to the degraded women." In 1887, there was a decision to start photographing the women and put their pictures in a rogues' gallery, so the victims could more easily identify them. In 1888, the headline "The Old, Old Story" was dusted off in reflection of a situation that seemed to have no end in sight.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article, published in 1996, the street was finally cleared of prostitution in 1896. The street has had many names in its checkered history. In 1898 it was renamed Union Square Street. In 1904 it was renamed Manila Street. In 1906, the street was decimated by the earthquake and fire. In 1921, the name was changed back to Union Square Street. That same year, a jeweler named Albert Samuels petitioned to have the name changed to Maiden Lane, in honor of the same named street in Manhattan. He succeeded in doing this in 1922. Ever since, people have erroneously associated the name maiden with the prostitutes who once plied their trade.

The photo gallery above captures the more recent history of the colorful street, beginning in the mid 19th century.

Bob Bragman is a producer for SFGATE. His writing reflects his love of the Bay Area, in addition to his passion for vintage pop culture, ephemera and vernacular photographs. To see more of his content, please click here.