New Condos Downtown San Diego - Painted Ladies

Painted Women of the Past

633 Fifth Avenue, the Yuma Building

Does this economy make you think about ways to save money?  I think that is happening to many of us.  We think twice before filling up our gas tank.  We make one trip instead of three trips.  We look for places to go and things to see that are interesting, fun, and not costly.  The Gaslamp District offers the perfect solution.  When you walk the streets of San Diego's Gaslamp District, are you in a hurry to get to the Ivy Hotel for drinks? Or to Borders for a book?  Or one of the hotels for Happy Hour?  Next time you go to the Gaslamp, take a minute and look around.  I mean really look around the Gaslamp District.  There are some amazing buildings mixed in with some of the new buildings.

This is the Yuma House.  This building was built in 1888.  As you can see from the photo, there weren't many buildings around the Yuma Building.  What's interesting about this history is that a brothel was housed in the building.  When I walk around the Gaslamp it is hard for me to imagine such an image of painted ladies.  Because of crime and other things related to brothels, this brothel in the Yuma Building was the first to be closed in the 1912 raids. Women were arrested and men were sent on their way.  What sounds like a double standard with this?  Trivia related to this raid include 136 women took the train to Los Angeles, one went insane, and one became the first telephone operator in San Diego.  The telephone operator story is the one that makes me laugh the most.  Makes me think of Lily Tomlin and Ernestine the Operator.

 By Sharyn & Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego real estate agents

This is part of a series of articles entitled, New Condos, Downtown San Diego Style