The Burnt District was the original red light district in Omaha, Nebraska in the late 19th century. It was the location of several notorious brothels, with more than establishments employing 1, sex workers. Omaha's Burnt District was a particular area of downtown where most of the city's brothels were located.
The most notorious of the brothels was called "the Cribs", and consisted of rows of shacks with alleyways filled with young girls. Contemporary estimates placed the number of sex workers at over 1, women. A man named M. Martin owned several of the properties in the Burnt District. The brothels did not work in secret; there were actually large windows through which observers could peer into the acts going on therein.
A businessman owned this district with large returns on his investment. Bribes were regularly given to local city leaders, policemen, and judges.
The existence of prostitution on this scale was justified by the Christian community as a necessary evil; it was thought the district would help protect "good" women from sexual assault like a sewer that drains moral impurity from the Christian world.
These areas existed for over 20 years before they were successfully shut down. Reverend Dr. Ramsey founded a chapel for prostitutes, ensuring the regular attendance of former prostitutes on a weekly basis. This region is also known as Hell's Half Acre. This Douglas County , Nebraska state location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.
