Welcome to Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum’s very first blog post! I’m here to walk you through what Miss Laura’s was, is, and hopes to be. But first, let’s get something out of the way:
We’re Discussing a Brothel Museum?
Yes, we are. Miss Laura’s has carried on for over a century in different capacities for different times, but its first purpose and its most consistent use was to be a house of prostitution for Fort Smith locals and travelers. Fort Smith and its people have carried on into change after change; a creation of history, and also a barrier to it. A brothel of all places can strike people as an odd center of historical focus, but the truth is, all of our history overlaps to create our present space, even the aspects that are harder to look at.
Miss Laura’s has a rich history. The women who lived and worked here (whether by choice or circumstance) had a heavy hand in shaping Fort Smith into what it is today. To look at the preserved space is to look at what Fort Smith was and how it became.
Miss Laura’s believes in educating on the history of our area’s involvement in one of the world’s oldest professions. What better place to start than at Miss Laura’s namesake?
“Miss Laura” Herself
“Miss Laura’s” full name was Laura Zeigler. Or Laura Sargent. Or Laura Parker. It wasn’t uncommon for women in prostitution to use different names on legal documents, as Laura did. According to census records, Laura was from Vermont. We know she used the name “Laura Sargent” when moving to Fort Smith, but “Laura Zeigler” when it came to the workings of her brothel. “Laura Parker” shows up in her later years.
Sadly, we don’t know much about Laura personally. There are no known photos of her. Laura’s profession required a degree of privacy that makes it hard to piece her together today. What we do know largely comes from her legal and business dealings, including the inception of her brothel.
Creating “Miss Laura’s”
From census records we can gather that Laura Zeigler owned another house on Commercial Row (a line of 6, and briefly 7, houses between the river and railroad tracks at the River Front), and probably worked at another house in town 1 month prior to being a madam. Laura purchased Commercial Row’s lot 6 for her “Female Boarding House” in 1898. A few years of building and a total of $6,500 (the equivalent of $250,445 today) later, Miss Laura’s officially opened in 1903. We can surmise it was successful from the start, as Laura had all her debts paid within 17 months.
Day to Day
We assume Laura’s brothel was a higher end house based on the house’s size and decorum. Laura would’ve most likely used a token system for payment, a common practice at the time, but we don’t know the exact amount. As for the everyday, the women of the house had a barn, chickens, we presume a garden. Higher end houses usually had maids, bouncers, cooks and groundskeepers to assist the madam. Visiting men had a behavioral expectation when they entered the house; Madams wouldn’t tolerate any nonsense.
Health exams were a regular occurrence for the girls at Miss Laura’s. Prostitution was legal and city regulated, and regulations required the women of the brothels have at least 2 health exams per month. It’s unclear if Laura paid for the exams or if the girls were required to cover it themselves. The girls’ certificates of health hung above the beds in their rooms.
Moving On
Laura Zeigler ran her successful “Female Boarding House” for eight years. Toward the end of those years, a sales abstract tells us that Laura moved to Jackson County, Kansas City, MO. Laura sold her Fort Smith brothel while already living in Missouri to a woman named Bertha Dean. Laura later acquired land in Laclede County and retired on a 292 acre farm.
In the years since, Miss Laura’s has passed through many different hands. From a brief time as a restaurant, to the Visitor Center of recent history, one thing is for sure: Fort Smith was set on preserving Miss Laura’s.
So What Now?
Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum is determined to pull back the curtains of its own history and uncover the atmosphere of what it has left behind. It can be an uncomfortable history, but leaning away from the uncomfortable deprives us of hard truths and leaves behind the building blocks we need to better ourselves today. Our dedication guides our mission: to provide a comprehensive educational experience regarding the history of prostitution, women’s rights, and women’s experiences in Fort Smith and other similar communities; to remember and honor the legacy of the women who were both in and out of one of the world’s oldest professions whether by choice or circumstance.
“The westward expansion of our country was forged on the literal backs of sex workers and the men who dared to venture there. There isn’t a town in America that can honestly say that brothels aren’t in the beginning chapters of their stories.”
-Angel Tracy
(Miss Laura’s Museum Manager)
I hope you enjoyed Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum’s first “Ode to History” blog post! Keep a look out for a monthly post ranging from history, to myth-debunking, to special event reports. If you want to learn more but don’t want to wait a whole month for more reading, Miss Laura’s Tour Guides would be delighted to show you around the museum and drop some more history. Or you can schedule a group tour in advance! Questions are always welcome. New information is always popping up; we’re more than happy to share.
Come back next month for a deeper dive into the pricing of Miss Laura’s original business, along with a conversation of the local myths the topic has gathered.
Until next time!