P a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r 7 In 1910 when Carrie Nation visited Butte’s restricted district, she began her “tour” at the ABC Saloon, which stood on this corner at 128 S. Wyoming. There she confronted the handsome young bartender: “Young man,” said she, “Does your mother know you are here?” He cringed at her words, but went right back to work. Legend has it that Mrs. Nation set foot in no more bars after her trip to the Mining City. While that fact is debatable, it is true that she found no converts in Butte. 8 The Copper Block, built by the Nadeau brothers in 1892, was home to many of the district’s women. While some deny that the Copper Block housed prostitution, the map clearly shows “female boarding on all floors.” For nearly a quarter of a century, Harry Adams worked for the Nadeau Investment Company, whose offices were in the building. Adams was considered a kind of “czar” of the red-light district and likely acted as the Nadeaus’ agent, collecting rents from the women who worked out of 9 Copper King Terrace in the building’s courtyard and in other Nadeau properties. The corner of the block housed an infamous saloon, in recent times called the Stockman Bar. “Dirty Mouth” Jean Sorenson, who lived up to her name, was the bar’s longtime owner. Mrs. Sorenson died in 1986, and the Copper Block was demolished in the early 1990s. Today, Copper Block Park commemorates the controversial history of this area, where “vice and crime held high carnival” in glamorous parlor houses, cheap brothels, narrow cribs, and dark alleyways. 10 In 1917, World War I and Prohibition ostensibly brought about closure of red-light districts across the country. In Butte, prostitution simply went underground in ready-made basements. Parlor houses took in boarders to appear legitimate. After Prohibition, Pleasant Alley reopened on a smaller scale, this time called Venus Alley. A green board fence surrounded the block to confine the activities and shield curious youngsters from the goings-on. Ground floor cribs, which opened onto the original Pleasant Alley and later, Venus Alley, can still be seen at the back of the Dumas. In 1943, federal law closed all cribs to check the spread of venereal disease among World War II troops. Steel plates were installed at the rear of the Dumas to cover the doors and windows of the two cribs facing the alley. These are Pleasant Alley’s only surviving cribs. Perhaps if you carefully search the alley-facing walls of the oldest buildings, you Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz might find telltale door-and-window outlines. With the final closure of Venus Alley cribs, the area became so dilapidated and unappealing that it earned a final name, Piss Alley.
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