The Last Whorehouse in El Dorado--the mystery house

In El Dorado, Arkansas an 18 million dollar conference center is under construction. To clear the area for the building, six 1920s era buildings are being taken down. During the demolition, behind the store front of one of the buildings, an intact--circa 1870s house suddenly appeared.

I’ve put a little research into the old house that was uncovered, and for a short answer it’s El Dorado’s last whorehouse. This is what I’ve put together:

From my old maps, I have determined the first railroad came into El Dorado around 1876. I have a map that shows the first railroad under construction at that date. In looking at the house and comparing it to the Mason House on North Jackson—which is 1875 circa---the mystery house on South Washington Avenue looks to have been built sometime between 1876 and 1880, right across from the railroad station. I walked through all parts of the house, except the attic, and, from the layout of the rooms, it looks as if it were built as a boarding house or hotel, probably right after the first railroad came to El Dorado.
When the 1920s oil boom started it was probably the only substantial structure on South Washington Avenue. Within a year rough clapboard buildings where thrown up and South Washington became the lawless Hamburger Row. There is no doubt in my mind, after listening to and reading the oral and written histories of the area, that this house was then used as a barrelhouse—saloon, gambling, and prostitution. In the early to mid 1920s most of the clapboard buildings were torn down and brick building were constructed. However, this house must have still been a substantial structure, so the builder of the store front built around it, keeping a concealed entrance through what later became the kitchen at Joe’s Place. Worth Camp—in an e-mail, said the 1929 city directory listed 324 ½ South Washington as “Jones Rooms”. Worth notes “it may have had a reputation for prostitution”. I interviewed the desk clerk of the Garrett Hotel who manned the front desk from late the late 1940s to the early 1950s. He confirmed the house—as well as at least five additional buildings—including the Randolph Hotel were used for prostitution as late at the early 1950s.
I hate to see this house disappear, but the mindset around here is that old historic buildings are worthless and need to be torn down.
Say goodbye to the last piece of Hamburger Row.

A lot of my research comes from the manuscript of my novel The Queen of Hamburger Row. For a taste of what South Washington Avenue was like during the 1920s, check my earlier posts.
More to come....