They sold their bodies : prostitution, economics, and "fallen women" in Fort Worth's Hell's Half Acre, 1876-1919

Abstract

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Fort Worth was home to a red-light district known as Hell's Half-Acre. While it has been the subject of some local, popular histories, the Acre has yet to be focused on in an academic context. This study aims to rectify that by examining the women who worked as prostitutes as well as the closure of the Acre itself. From 1876 to 1917, Hell's Half-Acre thrived until, finally, the move in of Camp Bowie forced its closure. During this time period, the women working in the Acre were relegated to an outsider status of "fallen" because of their occupation which resulted in a poor standard of living. This study, with its dual focus on the women themselves and the red-light district as a whole, aims to shed light on an era of Fort Worth and argues that the women of the Acre were so financially valuable that they kept the red-light district open until the military camp, in 1917, forced it to shut down.