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And then there was the whores and their Brothels.



At 611 Cedar Street in the 1890s, the Western Bar featured beer brewed locally at Sunset Brewery. Pictured to the right is the U&I Saloon. The U&I brothel operated continuously from this time until 1991. Historic Wallace Preservation Society.

Famed for its “cathouses,” towns in the Silver Valley—just like one of the other regional capitals of vice, Butte, Montana—adopted a largely tolerant attitude towards prostitution, with brothels operating on a legal or quasi-legal basis throughout much of the twentieth century. Given Wallace’s lax approach to enforcement—and in some cases, downright endorsement of “relief” for the restive single-male miner demographic—it’s no surprise that the area has some stories to tell.