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Terrific Pacific, Barbary Coast
In the Gold Rush Era this block of Pacific Street was the most notorious block on the Barbary Coast. Just down the street from Murderer's Corner and near Devil's Acre, this block was known as the Terrific Pacific and every building on the area was either a saloon, gambling house, opium den, dance hall, or brothel. One famous saloon, the Fierce Grizzly, actually had a live grizzly bear chained inside the door, and it was here that the knockout potion, 'Mickey Finn' originated.

The area's unbridled depravity continued, unabated for 50 years and in 1912 a visiting Captain Meagher of the Chicago Police Department declared Spider Kelly's Dance Hall, located on the spot pictured above, "undoubtedly the worst dive in the world" and went on to say, "compared to San Francisco, Chicago's vice districts are as nothing." The area was finally cleaned up in 1917 and renamed Jackson Square. Today the area is filled with expensive antique shops, attorney's offices, and upscale restaurants.
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