Blue sky view Wilson 'Wild Bill Bar' and Apex Buildings, Deadwood Badlands, Main Street, Deadwood, South Dakota, USA
In 1874 George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and found gold at French Creek, near present-day Custer. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush, which gave rise to the town of Deadwood, in the northern section of the hills and illegal because it lay within the territory granted to the Lacota (Sioux) in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie. In 1876 Charlie and Steve Rutter led a wagon train to Deadwood, which brought gamblers and prostitutes. 'Wild Bill' Hickok, an old friend, joined the wagon train in Cheyenne. 'Calamity Jane' joined it in Fort Laramie. The demand for women was high in the mining town, so prostitution was a profitable business. Gambling was made illegal by Prohibition in 1919, but, after the repeal of the Prohibition Act in 1935, flourished again until final closure in 1947. Local business owners lobbied for legalised gaming to increase tourism and boost the local economy, so in November 1989 gaming was allowed to re-start. Prostitution continued until the 1950s, when many brothels were closed down by the State Attorney. The last closed in 1980, when raided by the FBI. Several of Deadwood's brothels were on the upper levels of buildings in the Green Door District of Main Street. Second storey windows (seen here) are decorated by scantily dressed mannequins, which beckon to the street below, much like the real-life painted ladies of Deadwood's past. Many of Deadwood's original wooden buildings were destroyed by a wild fire in 1879, prompting a re-build in bricks and mortar. The Wilson Building, seen here, opened in 1903 as the 'Pickwick Saloon'. As with adjoining buildings, its upper floor was used as a brothel. It is now the location of 'Wild Bill's Steakhouse', with upper floor window mannequins as testimony to its bordello past. The Apex Building, built in stone in 1897, was destroyed by fire in 1982, then re-built in 1996. 'Pam's Purple Door', one of Deadwood's last brothels, operated here until 1980.
Size: 3056px × 3270px
Location: Wilson Building, 608-610 Main Street, Deadwood, Black Hills, South Dakota, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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