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Miss Hattie's Bordello is a tourist trap and interpretive museum located in downtown San Angelo, Texas. It purports to be the building where "Miss Hattie" operated a
Miss Hattie's Bordello is a tourist trap and interpretive museum located in downtown San Angelo, Texas. It purports to be the building where "Miss Hattie" operated a brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
from 1902 to 1952.
History
In 1870, Bartholomew J. DeWitt established San Angelo across theConcho River
The Concho River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas.
''Concho'' is Spanish for "shell"; the river was so named due to its abundance of freshwater mussels, such as the Tampico pearly mussel (''Cyrtonaias tampicoensis'').
Geography
The Conch ...
from Fort Concho
Fort Concho is a former United States Army installation and National Historic Landmark District located in San Angelo, Texas. It was established in November 1867 at the confluence of the North and South Concho Rivers, on the routes of the But ...
. The town was soon one of general good stores, saloons, and brothels, and earned a poor reputation. The fort and its garrisons of African American soldiers were often at odds—sometimes violently—with the town's citizenry. DeWitt had borrowed money from a San Antonio-based investor, Marcus Koenigheim to found San Angelo. When DeWitt could not repay Koenigheim, the latter man sued the former and settled for the remaining property DeWitt had not managed to sell. The venture was not profitable to the point of Koenigheim being unable to rid himself of it by sale. He attempted to raise the property value in the town by giving land to churches.
From the 1890s to the early 20th century, San Angelo passed ordinances to limit prostitution in the city.
In 1977, Evelyn Hill and Juania Higuera purchased 18.5 E. Concho. Two years later, Hill remodeled the upper story of the building into the present museum. Museum established, Hill created the story of Miss Hattie's bordello, alleging that it operated from 1902 to 1952. According to Miss Hattie's Bordello Museum, the brothel was established by a Mrs. Hatton while her husband ran a saloon on the ground floor. A Hatton, E. A. Hatton, did build and operate a business at 18.5 E. Concho, but he and his wife left San Angelo within two years and did not operate a brothel in the building. By 1912, there were four separate businesses on the first floor while the second floor was vacant. A bordello is believed to have occupied the second floor of 18.5 E. Concho from 1936 to 1949.
See also
*Chicken Ranch (Texas)
The Chicken Ranch was an illegal brothel in the U.S. state of Texas that operated from 1905 until 1973. It was located in Fayette County, about east of downtown La Grange. The business served as the basis for the 1973 ZZ Top song " La Gran ...
*History of vice in Texas
The history of vice in the U.S. state of Texas has been an important part of the state's past and has greatly influenced its development. Vice activities, such as gambling and prostitution, have historically been a significant facet of both the ...
Citations
References
*News sources
*External links
* {{coord, 31.46044, -100.4348, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-TX, display=title Buildings and structures in San Angelo, Texas Brothels in Texas 1902 establishments in Texas 1952 disestablishments in Texas Museums in Tom Green County, Texas