The Council Grapples with 'Peculiar' Houses
City leaders debate whether to regulate or police the city’s red-light district in a heated session.
The story, cleaned up
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The council met in regular session Monday evening. Councilman Needham asked that some restraint be placed on the 'peculiar' houses in the lower part of the city. Councilman Schorn advocated the imposing of a fine of ten dollars per month. Councilman Cox said this was too cheap. Councilman Reed moved that the attorney draw up an ordinance licensing the houses. City Attorney Rudkin stated that maintaining such houses was a violation of the laws of the state and to license them would be illegal. Schorn moved that the marshal arrest every inmate of the houses monthly beginning with that night and that each be fined $10. The matter was finally settled by instructions to the city attorney to draw up an ordinance regulating houses of ill-fame.
“City Attorney Rudkin stated that maintaining such houses was a violation of the laws of the state and to license them would be illegal.”
This 1891 debate over 'peculiar houses' reflects the perennial tension between municipal governance, moral panics, and the practicalities of regulating illicit activities—a challenge that continues to evolve in how cities manage housing and zoning for vulnerable populations today.
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