Police regularly conducted raids of the establishments, fining, arresting, and even sometimes conducting physical examinations of the women. By a formal registration system existed where police kept track of the names and addresses of madams and their houses and in turn, the madams supplied current lists of their girls.
Starting in , calls to purge Commercial Street of its sordid establishments began, citing that it soiled the main business district and decreased property value.
Dora B. These men asked Mrs. The community reacted in many different ways. Soon after completion, on the evening of December 18 city police told prostitutes that they had until a. They basically were given three choices: leave town, go to jail, or reside in the stockade. The installation of an elaborate alarm system proved to be very effective for whenever the police ventured out, they found the stockade dark and deserted. While, others returned to Commercial Street which continued to be a red-light district until the s, or remained near West South, an area for prostitution until the s.
Sources: John S. Stockade Crib rows, September 21,
