Galveston's Historic Red Light District | Island of tolerated sin

Galveston isn’t known as the Sin City of the South just for gambling or Galveston’s prohibition of prohibition. Galveston has a long documented history of prostitution in the Red Light District. There’s no doubt that prostitution in Galveston dates back to before the city was founded, but the Red Light District as we know it today began during the Civil War when the union navy occupied the city of Galveston. Although the union only maintained control of Galveston for three months, post office Street and Market Street, within a few block radius of 25th St., then known as Bath Avenue, was transformed into an area where cash-rich union soldiers could find a lady to meet their needs. As most of Galveston’s residents evacuated during the union occupation, there were huge multi-room, unoccupied mansions that could be utilized as discreet places of business. After the Civil War, the practice of prostitution in this area did not stop. It officially became Galveston’s Red Light District. From the reconstruction era to the 1960s, there were quite a few houses of ill repute. Keep in mind the Port Of Galveston is only a few blocks away, and sailors from around the world may have just found themselves in this area looking for a companion for the evening. A few houses around what was called “the line” still stand today. Prostitution was a tolerated and accepted Port Of Galveston society… with a license, of course. The history of Galveston’s red light district brings to mind the socio-economic factors that allowed prostitution, gambling, and alcohol during prohibition and all other matters of sin to thrive not only in Galveston’s Red Light District but all over the island since European settlement.

Interested in information covered in this episode? Reference links below:
Galveston's Red Light District: A History of The Line | Kimber Fountain
Galveston in the Civil War
Sin City of the South
Free State of Galveston
1894  Arial view of this area | Water Works tower

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