San Antonio Sporting District

{{Infobox settlement

|name = The Sporting District

|image_skyline = Keilmans-blue-book.jpg

|image_alt = The cover of a very old booklet titled "The Blue Book for Visitors, Tourists, and Those Seeking a Good Time while in San Antonio, Texas

|image_caption = The 1911–1912 Blue Book, a tourist guide to San Antonio's Sporting District

|other_name = The District

|settlement_type = Red-light district in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

|established_title = Established

|established_date = 1889

|extinct_title = Shut down

|extinct_date = 1941

}}

The Sporting District was a red-light district in the U.S. city of San Antonio, Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was established by the city council to manage prostitution in the city. For a time it was one of the nation's largest vice districts with venues ranging from brothels to gambling halls. The area was officially shut down in 1941 resulting from the mobilization for World War II.

The term sporting was a common 19th-century euphemism for gambling and/or prostitution. Many communities around the U.S. used this term; brothels were often referred to as sporting houses.

Boundaries

The District contained approximately 10 blocks of the city. Its boundary was described as follows in a tourist guide:{{Cite web| url=http://www.texasescapes.com/CFEckhardt/San-Antonios-Blue-Book.htm | title=San Antonio's Blue Book | author=Eckhardt, C. F. | publisher=Texas Escapes | access-date=18 November 2009}}

{{quote|... south on South Santa Rosa Street for three blocks, beginning at Dolorosa Street, thence from the 100 block to the end of the 500 block on Matamoras Street, thence from the 200 block to the 500 block on South Concho Street, and lastly the 100 block on Monterey Street. This is the boundary within which the women are compelled to live according to law.|The Blue Book for Visitors and Tourists and those Seeking a Good Time while in San Antonio, Texas}}

History

File:Annie Rogers and Harvey Logan.jpg , one of Fannie Porter's prostitutes, and outlaw Kid Curry]]

During the earlier years of the state, San Antonio was Texas' largest city. One of the city's most important business leaders was Jack Harris, who established the Vaudeville Theater and Saloon in 1872, in what would later become the Sporting District. The saloon, which was the city's first business to utilize the fledgeling Electric Company in 1882, quickly became the most popular entertainment venue in the city, offering liquor, live theater, and gambling.Evett; Handbook of Texas. Soon other entertainment entrepreneurs, including prostitutes, appeared nearby. The Theater's location, the corner of Soledad and Commerce, became known as "Fatal Corner", owing to the violent crowd that the saloon attracted.Selcer (2004) ch. 2.

The Sporting District was formally established in 1889 by the San Antonio city council to contain and regulate prostitution.{{Cite journal | url=http://libraries.uta.edu/SpecColl/crose07/CR-Fall2007.pdf | publisher=University of Texas at Arlington Library | author=Morgan, Lael | title=The San Antonio Blue Book: Proof of a Secret Era | journal=The Compass Rose | volume=XXI | number=2 | pages=1–3 | date=Fall 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604091919/http://libraries.uta.edu/SpecColl/crose07/CR-Fall2007.pdf | archive-date=4 June 2011 | df=dmy-all }} The area became home to brothels, dance halls, saloons, gambling parlors, and other illegal, or at least vice-oriented, businesses. City officials did not officially condone the activities but rather unofficially regulated them. The area also included many legitimate businesses including hotels and restaurants.

By the early 20th century, the District had become so large that, not only was it the largest red-light district in Texas, but it was one of the largest in the nationMaxwell (1996), p. 135. (third in the nation by some accounts). Brothels were required to pay $500 annually in licensing fees. In 1911 businesses in the area provided the city with approximately $50,000 (${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|50000|1911}}}} in today's dollars) annually in licensing fees. The most successful brothels boasted amenities such as ballrooms and orchestras. Because of the area's size a "Blue Book" was published as a tourist guide for visitors. The 1911–1912 edition listed 106 vice entertainment venues as well as many other businesses. In contrast to the relatively raucous red-light districts in other parts of the country, San Antonio's was known for being relatively subdued and civilized.{{cite news | title=San Antonio's Sporting District was once the largest red-light district in Texas | author=Scott, J.M. | date=21 January 2016 | newspaper=San Antonio Express-News | url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/history-culture/article/San-Antonio-s-Sporting-District-was-once-the-6774827.php}} Despite its fame and economic significance however, very little was recorded about the District because neither city officials nor journalists were typically willing to acknowledge knowing about the illegal activities.

An unusual facet of San Antonio's red-light district was the lack of racial segregation in the District.McComb (2008) p. 13. Despite the general segregation that permeated society in Texas, establishments in the Sporting District generally catered to black men just as much as white men.

Between the world wars, particularly during the Depression, the District deteriorated as higher-class prostitutes abandoned the area in favor of working as call girls in hotels.Humphrey; Handbook of Texas. Violent crime and theft in the area grew. With the arrival of World War II, the District gained the disapproval of the local army leadership, particularly Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the Third Army's chief of staff at Fort Sam Houston from August to December 1941.

The District was finally shut down in 1941 by San Antonio Police Commissioner P.L. Anderson, with the strong approval of Major General Richard Donovan.{{Cite news| title=Police Vice Drive Praised by Donovan | work=San Antonio Light | date=4 December 1941 | page= 1 | quote=referring to "the action of Police Commissioner P.L. Anderson in closing down the West Side vice activities."}} In July 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had signed into law a federal ban on prostitution near naval and army bases.{{Cite news| title=Prostitute Ban Signed By F.D.R. | work=San Antonio Light | date=13 July 1941 | page= 1 | quote="President Roosevelt today signed a to prohibit prostitution at or near military or naval establishments." }} Despite the closure, San Antonio continued to be a major center of prostitution until well after the war.

Major venues

File:Jack_Harris_Vaudeville_Theatre.jpg

The Sporting District contained numerous entertainment venues. The Vaudeville Theater and Saloon was one of the first and most prominent. Another famous venue was Fannie Porter's Sporting House, which was actually located a block outside the borders of the district as defined by the city. Apart from being a well-established brothel, the home became a hideout for the gang of famed outlaw Butch Cassidy.Selcer; Handbook of Texas.{{Cite web| url=http://www.texasescapes.com/MaggieVanOstrand/Fannie-Porter-of-San-Antonio.htm | title=Fannie Porter of San Antonio | author=Ostrand, Maggie Van | publisher=Texas Escapes | access-date=18 November 2009}}

Other well-known venues included the Mansion, the Beauty Saloon, the White Elephant Saloon, and the Buckhorn Saloon.Selcer (2004) pp. 82, 230.Everett; Handbook of Texas

Notes

References

{{Handbook of Texas | name=Buckhorn Saloon | id=dub01 | author=Everett, Donald E | retrieved=22 December 2017}} Texas State Historical Association.
{{Handbook of Texas | name=Jack Harris | id=fhadm | author=Evett, Alice Calkins | retrieved=20 December 2017}} Texas State Historical Association.
{{Handbook of Texas | name=Prostitution | id=jbp01 | author=Humphrey, David C. | retrieved=17 November 2009}} Texas State Historical Association.
{{Cite book| title=A sexual odyssey: from forbidden fruit to cybersex | author=Maxwell, Kenneth E. | publisher=Plenum Publishing | year=1996 | isbn=978-0-306-45405-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zaKFAAAAIAAJ}}
{{Cite book| title=Spare Time in Texas: Recreation and History in the Lone Star State | author=McComb, David G. | year=2008 | publisher=University of Texas Press | location=Austin, TX | isbn=978-0-292-71870-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mlBM2gHdRWkC}}
{{Handbook of Texas | name=Porter, Fannie | id=fpo51 | author=Selcer, Richard F. | retrieved=18 November 2009}} Texas State Historical Association.
{{Cite book| title=Legendary watering holes: the saloons that made Texas famous | author=Selcer, Richard F. | year=2004 | publisher=Texas A&M University Press | location=College Station, TX | isbn=978-1-58544-336-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tFKeV0Do3NsC}}

External links

[http://www.texasescapes.com/CFEckhardt/San-Antonios-Blue-Book.htm Texas Escapes: San Antonio's Blue Book]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604091919/http://libraries.uta.edu/SpecColl/crose07/CR-Fall2007.pdf UT Arlington: The San Antonio Blue Book: Proof of a Secret Era]

Category:Former red-light districts in the United States

Category:History of Texas

Category:Gambling in Texas

Category:Red-light districts in Texas