In the 19th century, this was Morton Street, variously considered the vilest, or the second vilest street in San Francisco. (Chinatown’s Waverly place provided the principal competition). Topless harlots leaned from their casement windows, luring business from the men who passed by. On a slow night, a woman’s pimp sold fondles for the standard price: 1 breast for ten cents, 2 for fifteen.
After the 1906 fire, Morton Street’s former tenants moved their business elsewhere, and the increasingly upscale merchants in the Union Square neighborhood renamed this Union Square Avenue. In the early 1920s, a local diamond merchant won city approval to rename the street again, this time for the jewelry district Maiden Lanes of London and Paris. And thus, with no apparent nod to irony, Morton Street completed its transformation.
Juicy stories set in or near Maiden Lane abound. For more, you might want to join me or one of the other San Francisco City Guides on our Monday morning “Bawdy and Naughty” walking tours.
(Map)
Walking in her shoes!
- sfstreets
- It may be a good idea to walk a mile in another's shoes... but these Superb for Walking shoes from 1906 are not what my idea of comfort when I explore San Francisco's little streets!
2 comments:
Great stories of our past! I will have to take in more of your historical wlaks.
Thanks for your response to my previous comment. I like your work. I noticed that you removed the links previously posted on your blog. I'll have to do my own archeological digging. SF and its history is of great interest to me. My father was here during the big 1906 shaker. Sonnie
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