DEADWOOD (Day 1 - part 3)
At 5 pm, we arrived at 610 Main St. for a tour of one of the town's historic brothels (what better way to spend a birthday!). The second stories of buildings 610, 612, 614 and 616 operated as “rooming houses” (as they were listed in telephone directories) and were commonly identified by the color of their street-level doors: green, white, purple and beige. They operated from 1876 all the way up to... 1980. Yup, you read that right! This one was the Shasta Rooms or Beige Door Brothel.
Listings from a 1939 phonebook
This building was built from 1902-03. The main floor was used as an auto parts store, an electronics repair shop, an assay office, an art supply store and several bars. Originally the second floor was used for residential apartments. By the late 1930s, these rooms became the brothel.
Heading upstairs
The brothels were up and running by May 1876, a mere month after gold was discovered. Back in the days of the Wild West, brothels were common in frontier boom towns and mining camps.
Technically there was no official city ordinance outlawing prostitution, even though it was illegal in the state. But the community of Deadwood was mostly willingly to look the other way for a variety reasons... the biggest one being money. In the 1870s, the working girls and saloons could bring in $10,000 a night! All of this money from 'the badlands' side of town eventually made its way for the purchase of goods from the 'better part' of town.... food, furniture, clothes, cosmetics... these women supported all sorts of local businesses.
For over the next 100 years, local, state and federal officials made futile attempts to shut them down. Efforts were finally successful in May 1980, when Deadwood's four remaining brothels were raided and then closed forever. The mannequins began appearing in various upstairs windows soon after Deadwood legalized gambling in 1989.
You trollop!
Apparently this is how Tea Cup Sally got her name!
Cole (dressed in historic old West attire) was our guide. Three years had been spent fixing up this place and tours finally began in August 2020. Each of the eight rooms were decorated to represent a different time period.
Our tour began in the parlor.
Doors leading into the various rooms from the hallway
The first four rooms were working rooms, with their decorations based on different eras of the brothel.
This first bedroom showed what all the rooms looked like back in the 1870s to 1910s.
Bedroom #2 had decor from the 1920s and 30s.
Welcome to WWII and the start of the more liberated woman in bedroom #3.
Fashion magazines .... and bobby pins. I hadn't realized the name comes from the hairstyle. Bobby pins were invented in the 1920s to hold the new "bobbed" haircuts.
The last bedroom was themed for the wild 1960s to 80s. ... A view out the window
During the era of "free love", it was believed that need for the brothels might diminish, but actually the exact opposite was true. The stigma around sex had been reduced, contraceptives were more available, and the acceptance of pleasure and new lifestyles led to a wide array of exploration.
The brothels weren't always just about sex. Some men visited just to imbibe in other pleasures (especially when booze was prohibited). Both singles and couples would attend the after-hours parties held here.
The next room was a personal bedroom of a worker. In spite of all the stories that may have circulated about these women, in the end they were all simply human beings.
Next was the madam’s office where monetary business was conducted.
This dresser had slots on top for the working girls to deposit their earnings. The top drawer (into which the money fell) was locked and would be counted later. The women here actually got to keep a good half of what they brought in.
Our final stop was the madam’s bedroom.
It was almost dark out when we set foot back outside. The streets were now streaming with visitors and the restaurants and casinos were packed to the hilt.
Unfortunately we hadn't thought to plan ahead and make reservations somewhere. Waiting times to get a table were up to 2 hours! Eventually we got a spot after a mere 45 minutes at Mavericks Steak & Cocktails, on the second floor of the Gold Dust Casino.
It was quite the spread with dinner rolls, a massive salad, steak (for him) and tortellini Alfredo (for me)!
My Moscow mule (left) was flavored with Huckleberry!
After dinner, we wandered the streets and casinos for a while, enjoying the costumes and decorations. Eventually we wandered back to the motel.
Goodnight, Deadwood!
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