Your father watched the workmen raze the building and load the bricks into a dump truck for the trip to Belle Chene Drive. Hamilton also notes that in January , 25 prostitutes from a Paris prison were transported to Mobile as potential wives for French colonists. These women are not to be confused with the well-known Pelican Girls. From the Colonial Era under French, British and Spanish rule into the early 19th century, as a frontier military outpost inhabited largely by young men, Mobile was a magnet for prostitutes.
But, policemen and other city officials with only rudimentary educational backgrounds were responsible for actually interpreting the meaning and intent of such ordinances. Consequently, convictions and punishments usually were inconsistent. If she again violated the law within six months, she forfeited her bond and would be sentenced to at least 60 days in the workhouse. Moreover, the severity of actions in prostitution cases ordered by elected officials often reflected the perceived social status or political influence of the plaintiffs and defendants.
Strother on St. Nevertheless, the U. Census records offer some tantalizing clues. Since this area of Mobile was well known for its brothels, these women quite likely were prostitutes. Only three of these young women were native Alabamians; the others hailed from across the United States and from England, Ireland, Scotland and Canada.
Mail steamships periodically delivered prostitutes to Mobile from New Orleans. For example, the passenger manifest for the steamer Southern for May 17, included Miss E. Smith and year-old Miss Daunn in Mobile. Reconstruction in Mobile witnessed the first significant shift in this laissez-faire policy regarding prostitution.
In the autumn of , the presence of a large contingent of federal troops expedited this policy change. Acknowledging the direct correlation between prostitution and venereal disease, federal authorities, by virtue of Special Order No. Anthony St. Marine Hospital, which for many years had quietly provided free medical care for prostitutes and their clients, including numerous merchant sailors.
