Step back in time to when Ketchikan was Alaska’s rowdiest frontier town! Creek Street wasn’t just a picturesque boardwalk—it was the heart of the red-light district, home to bold and independent women like Dolly Arthur, who ran some of the most infamous brothels in the Pacific Northwest. During Prohibition, bootleggers and rum runners smuggled illegal liquor through secret tunnels and floating barrels in Ketchikan Creek. While the red lights went dark in the 1950s, the town’s scandalous past still lingers in its colorful history. Today, Creek Street stands as a reminder of a wilder time—where vice, survival, and entrepreneurship walked hand in hand.
Sources:
https://www.achp.gov/preserve-america/community/ketchikan-alaska
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchikan,_Alaska
https://ketchikanstories.com/film/a-true-frontier/history-1
https://www.experienceketchikan.com/creek-street-ketchikan.html
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JlUnjxZMuS8
https://www.alaska.org/detail/dollys-house-museum
http://www.johnstraley.com/blog/2023/11/12/the-prostitutes-of-ketchikan
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=182103
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v3CnInuKwlk
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35923
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35923
https://ketchikanstories.com/film/our-native-legacy/history-and-heritage
