By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
BOSTON – Before Boston’s North End Italian neighborhood and nearby Quincy Market became popular tourist havens, it was notoriously known for making headlines and called something else. During the 1800s, segments of the area consisted of streets named Ann, Conduit, Drawbridge, Fish and Ship. Ann Street was an infamous neighborhood known as the “Black Sea.” Before the rise of Boston’s Combat Zone in the mid-20th century, the Black Sea’s surrounding alleys had already formed a red-light district where 227 brothels, inns, gambling dens, jilt shops looking to rob their customers, and taverns could be found.
Sailor’s playground
Famed minister and Salem Witches trial judge Cotton Mather believed many girls and women living in the north area were also witches, including Ann “Goody” Glover who was a laundress for the Goodwin family and was accused of stealing linens by one of the Goodwin children. When overheard saying the Lord’s Prayer in her native Gaelic, locals mistakenly thought she was speaking gibberish, convincing the public even more that the elderly Irish widow was a witch. She was the last person in Boston to be hanged as a witch.
One of the terms used by English sailors from 1775 to 1776 to designate the red-light districts in their various posts and ports of call was “Mount Whoredom.” By the late 1840s, crowded living conditions in the North End were among the worst in the city and poverty was rampant. Police occasionally patrolled the dangerously seedy Black Sea area knowing establishments relied heavily upon sailors who came ashore to looking for a good time at the “sailor’s playground.” During one police raid in March of 1851, 50 cops arrested 86 gamblers, 35 brothel keepers and 95 women who were mostly prostitutes.
Boston rechristened Ann Street to North Street in 1852 but renaming the street did little to change the neighborhood. At least not for a while. By the time the 1900s arrived, tragedies and famous crimes began to darken the community. Many children were orphaned due to the 1918 Spanish Influenza breakout and the following year, the Great Molasses Flood flowed through the streets.
Infamous residents
American serial killer Jane “Jolly Jane” Topan lived in the neighborhood as did anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, who were later executed after being convicted of a robbery and murder in 1921. It’s where convicted fraudster Charles Ponzi set up shop, creating a scheme of theft using postal coupons and the 1950 Brink’s robbery also happened there.
Breaking ground during Boston’s “Big Dig” during the 1990s unearthed a treasure trove of artifacts that included hair combs and hygiene items believed to have come from a brothel near the Black Sea’s red-light district. According to Bostonia magazine, Mrs. Lake operated a “parlor house” at 27-29 Endicott Street and described it as a home where patrons could also gamble, be served meals and receive “special services” at an extra cost. Although prostitution was illegal, police did often look away and city records did show that one policeman lived on her property while it operated as a brothel. It is believed most of the girls came from rural areas looking for work.
According to Boston city directories, Mrs. Lake was married to a doctor and some of the objects found and believed to have come from the house also include medicine bottles of copaiba oil which was used to induce abortions. According to Discover magazine, Louisa Cowen took over as madam of the brothel in 1856. As an alternative to the area’s seediness and hardships, there had been a shelter set up at the corner of Lewis, Fulton and North Streets called the “Quincy Home for the Friendless,” in what Phebe Anna Hanaford described in her poem “The Midnight Meeting” as “where sin-cursed women might find a friend.”
Despite its risqué past, the North End’s history is rich in arts, culture, cuisine and fascinating stories. It is one of the nation’s oldest neighborhoods and continues to attract tourists from around the world.
RELATED CONTENT:
Gone are the days of Boston department store charm schools
Saturday Night Live’s ‘The Boston Teens’ are now old enough for senior discounts
Parker House hotel is birthplace of Boston cream pie and other food creations
