8.11.05

F I R S TP R E V268NEXTLAST

Waverly Place, Chinatown
In the early 1850s Waverly Place was known as Pike Street or as Tien Hau Mue Guy by the Chinese. It was the site of the brothel run by Chinatown's famed prostitute, Ah Toy. Ah Toy had purchased her contract through the patronage of a prominent customer and went on to become one of the wealthiest madams in San Francisco. Remarkably for a woman of her time, she maintained a fierce sense of independence and often appeared in court to effectively fight charges against her, many times entertaining and charming the court. At least once she appeared as consul for another Chinese woman suing a customer for his "debt of honor." By the 1890s the number of arrests finally forced Ah Toy out of the business and she disappeared from the public eye. In 1928 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Ah Toy had died in Palo Alto at 99 years of age.
[ MAP G-14 ]


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