Regent Street - Salt Lake City, UT - Utah Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The historical marker at the south end of Regent Street, along 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City, reads:

Tour Stop
12

Regent Street

Commercial Street

COMMERCIAL STREET, TODAY CALLED REGENT STREET, WAS SALT LAKE CITY’S RED-LIGHT district from the 1870s to the late 1930s. Several dozen buildings along Commercial Street housed legitimate businesses on the first floor and brothels or “cribs” for prostitutes on the upper floors. As in other American cities at the time, Salt Lake City’s prostitutes operated with the tacit approval of local police. By 1908, each prostitute was required to register with the police and pay a monthly $10 “fine” which went into the city’s general fund. The only remaining building from Commercial Street’s red-light days is the Leader Cigar Factory Building located a the south end of the block.

This site is Tour Stop 21 on the Utah Heritage Foundation Downtown Walking Tour.

Marker Name: Regent Street Marker Type: City Addtional Information: "COMMERCIAL STREET 167-169 Regent Street This site originally housed two buildings used as brothels on Salt Lake City's busy Commercial Street during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Commercial Street was created in 1871, one of the first streets to be cut through Salt Lake City's large city blocks. Commercial Street originally contained legitimate businesses but by the 1880's the "Salt Lake Tribune" referred to the street as "a resort of gamblers and fast women" and, according to the "Deseret News", the occupants of Commercial Street were "the demi-monde, the male parasite, the dope fiend, the gambler and the begger." In 1893 a two-story structure was built by Gustav S. Holmes at 167 Regent Street and in 1899 a similar structure was built by Stephen Hayes at 169 Regent Street. The second floor of each building was a "parlor house," so named because prostitutes ordinarily received their customers in a common parlor or sitting room. The large center room was surrounded by 10 rooms, or "cribs," just large enough for a bed, wash stand, dresser, and a chair or two. The architect of the site at 169 Regent Street was Walter E. Ware, one of early Salt Lake's prominent designers. Commercial Street, now known as Regent Street, is the center for publishing of Salt Lake City's two daily newspapers. Presses have been running on the street since the early 1900's." http://history.utah.gov/apps/markers/detailed_results.php?markerid=2775 County: Salt Lake City: Salt Lake City Group Responsible for Placement: Utah Heritage Foundation Marker Number: 12 Web link(s) for additional information: http://www.examiner.com/article/regent-street-salt-lake-s-red-light-district Date Dedicated: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark. If possible please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Utah history please include that in your log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   02/07/2012 Chasing Blue Sky visited it