When Susie and I visited (the following year?) the attraction of big city life was apparent. Everything you need is within walking distance. Big box retailers, eateries, City Lights Bookstore, night life--it was all around you. To the untrained eye it appeared to be thriving.
This week I was doing research on a section of Duluth called Canal Park. To my surprise, there was also an area here called the Tenderloin District, and it made me curious.
The term originated in New York City. Purportedly, it was an area where police officers could afford to eat tenderloin steak using the bribes they collected from illegal activities there. Brothels, gambling dens and other forms of vice could all be found here.
When similar characteristics begand to emerge in Frisco, the name was adopted, covering the area from Union Square to Van Ness and Market Sreet to Geary in the north. (While visiting stores on Market Street I watched some junkies across the street shooting up. They dispersed when one of the group noticed me observing.)
Duluth's vice trade was a well-known piece of Northland lore. Grandma's Saloon and Grill was formerly a brothel in this "red light" zone. Canal Park housed our own Tenderloin District. The term "tenderloin" refers to a choice cut of meat, a symbol of the wealth associated with illicit income from vice activities. Figuratively it signifies an area where one can indulge in forms of entertainment on the edge or beyond legal bounds.
One of the streets in Canal Park, called "Whiskey Row," purportedly had 22 saloons and brothels. The Twin Ports (Duluth and Superior) was one of the most active inland ports in the world, hence the preponderance of transient workers and sailors who these facilities catered to.
For some eye-opening stories about vice and crooked cops, check out Nevada Bob Gordon's 50 Years with the Wrong Woman.
Photo: Creative Commons 2.0 -- Flickr
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