The Closure of the Sandberg District
City Attorney Stiles unilaterally forces the closure of Tacoma's red-light district, triggering a panicked exodus from the blocks between Court A and A Street.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Sandberg joint is closed and the restricted district is no more in Tacoma. Scores of denizens of the underworld left town last night, while others are scattered over the city in cheap lodging houses. The crusade started by the city council’s police and license committee is responsible for the change, and the block between Court A and A Street and Fourteenth and Fifteenth is now freer from women than it was even during Prosecutor Rowland’s term. City Attorney Stiles, acting independently of the mayor and police department, sent Special Detective Taylor to serve written orders to get out to the parlor houses. When Taylor raided the Court A resorts, a crowd of men gathered, but upon being told they might be arrested, they scattered in a stampede, with one man falling down stairs in his haste. To ensure effectiveness, the city attorney had the light and water supplies shut off. While many women fled, some remained to seek other quarters, but Stiles vowed to issue warrants to keep the district closed.
“One man fell down stairs and wedged under the folding doors in his haste to escape. There was a grand scampering in all directions and the one official completely put to rout the whole tenderloin.”
This reflects the 'moral cleanup' movements of the early 20th century. Today, these historic blocks are central to the downtown district, reflecting the city’s total transformation from a rowdy frontier port to a modern urban center.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.