Vegas' Missing Area: Block 16 - Sin metropolis' Only Legit Red-Light Zone
If you type "Block 16" and "Las Vegas" into Google, you might think this article is about a luxurious food court located at the Cosmopolitan hotel on the Strip. However, it's not about food; it's about a human craving for expensive vices.
The origins of Las Vegas being known as "Sin City" are unclear. But it can be said with certainty that Block 16 was the epicenter of this name. In 1905, when the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad sold off the land that would later become Las Vegas, the city was divided into 40 blocks, each containing 32 lots measuring 25 by 140 feet, with an 80-foot-wide street and a 20-foot-wide alley running through the center.
Block 16, which is situated on First Street between Ogden and Stewart Avenues, was designated as the only area (apart from hotels) where alcohol could be legally sold. Very soon, gambling and prostitution joined alcohol consumption in this designated red-light district, resulting in the opening of six hotels and 11 bars.
The Arizona Club, sometimes referred to as "The Queen of Block 16," was the classier establishment in this area. It boasted a $20K mahogany bar and was the first casino in Las Vegas. The casino also built its own "hotel" (which we'll discuss later).
In 1909, gambling was outlawed in Nevada. In 1920, the 18th Amendment banned the sale of alcohol throughout the United States. However, these laws didn't stop people from finding gambling and drinking on Block 16 during this period.
Vices in Action
Contrary to popular belief, sex was the most legal vice available on Block 16. Although prostitution is now prohibited in Las Vegas and everywhere else in Clark County, it wasn't always the case during the first half of the 20th century.
Prostitutes in Block 16 were required to pay a $500 annual license fee and undergo regular medical examinations. If they didn't, they were considered illegal.
So, the Arizona Club's "hotel" was actually a second-story containing small rooms reserved for working women and their clients.
When passenger trains used to stop in Las Vegas for around 45 minutes, it was long enough for a "quickie."
George L. Ullom, a former Las Vegas city manager, told Jamie Coughtry for the author's 1989 UNLV oral history project, "Politics and Development in Las Vegas, 1930s-1970s," how Block 16 worked during that time.
"Each of those places had a madam as the operator," Ullom said, revealing that there were probably around 40 girls working there. "I don't suppose that there were over 40 girls involved," he added. "In the warmer months, the girls would stand out in front of the place to whistle at a possible customer."
Although Ullom claims not to have been one of these customers, he vividly remembers Block 16 from his childhood and adulthood, when he was a policeman.
Prostitutes and Repercussions
Interestingly, the legalization of Las Vegas gambling in 1931 encouraged casino operators to oppose prostitution, considering it a threat to their customers' money and time.
But the end of Block 16 came when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the May Act in 1941, which banned prostitution near military bases. This left the distance interpretation up to base commanders.
After this act, the Army Air Corps issued a warning to Las Vegas' commissioners: if they didn't ban prostitution on Block 16, all of Las Vegas would be off-limits to soldiers.
This came at a time when Nellis Air Force Base was established 8 miles away from Las Vegas, and soldiers on their off-duty passes flooded Block 16, numbering in the hundreds each night.
Caving to this threat, the city commission revoked the liquor and gambling licenses of every establishment that refused to quit their bordello business.
Subsequently, Las Vegas police chief Frank Wait resigned. He thought it would be better to have legal prostitution than illegal streetwalkers.
Ullom, an officer responsible for enforcing the new ordinance, shared his memories of the aftermath: "We went down and informed them all and closed them up. The day after the closing, it seems to me that there were two people we brought out and took down and arrested. And that was the end of it."
While the May Act was repealed in 1948, Las Vegas authorities suppressed any attempts to reopen brothels on Block 16. The early 1950s saw a series of raids on these establishments, which were justified as crackdowns on public nuisances.
Over the decade, most of the saloons/bordellos on Block 16 had closed and been demolished.
"Most of these girls disappeared," Ullom recollected, "but then it was open field for the hustlers."
Today, around 70 years since then, the spot is now taken up by the California Hotel & Casino and a parking garage for Binion's. People might still recognize it as "Block 16" in Las Vegas. However, it's more widely known for being the location where Hattie B's Hot Chicken can be found.
To learn more about Las Vegas' forgotten history, check out "Lost Vegas," an occasional series. If you have an interesting story about Vegas that's been lost to time, send it to [email protected].
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Source: www.casino.org
