Hell's Half Acre: The Life and Legend of a Red-Light District Volume 9
(Part of the Chisholm Trail Series Series)
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Book Overview
Texas is a place where legends are made, die, and are revived. Fort Worth, Texas, claims its own legend - Hell's Half Acre - a wild 'n woolly accumulation of bordellos, cribs, dance houses, saloons, and gambling parlors. Tenderloin districts were a fact of life in every major town in the American West, but Hell's Half Acre - its myth and its reality - can be said to be a microcosm of them all. The most famous and infamous westerners visited the Acre: Timothy ("Longhair Jim") Courtright, Luke Short, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Sam Bass, Mary Porter, Etta Place, along with Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch, and many more. For civic leaders and reformers, the Acre presented a dilemma - the very establishments they sought to close down or regulate were major contributors to the local economy. Controversial in its heyday and receiving new attention by such movies as Lonesome Dove, Hell's Half Acre remains the subject of debate among historians and researchers today. Richard Selcer successfully separates fact from fiction, myth from reality, in this vibrant study of the men and women of Cowtown's notorious Acre.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0875650880
ISBN13:9780875650883
Release Date:January 1991
Publisher:Texas Christian University Press
Length:364 Pages
Weight:1.32 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Very Good
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Received item quickly and in condition as stated. Author autographed my book at a meeting in Ft Worth, has photos and articles about relatives. Very interesting.
My hometown
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
It could be your hometown too, if you grew up in the west. A good history,(well-researched)that pulls no punches about the unsavory characters and rough life of the old west.
Best book on Old West Fort Worth ever!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Without a doubt, the best book on the old west history of Ft. Worth, naming names, and places where the action was. Selcer covers it all, from the smallest saloons and big outfits, to the big name gamblers and shady ladies, to the reformers. Locations, descriptions...get ready for a trip in time, you won't be able to put it down. Yeeeeee -Haaawwwww! Lovin it!!
Foat Wuth Ah Lov Yew
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
Selcer has produced an historical account of Fort Worth's early years, and the relationship of vice to its growth. I found the book difficult to put down until I had read each sordid detail.You want the truth about the good old days, back when times were simpler? Selcer will give it to you, in spades, enjoy them, and reflect on the lives of our great grandparents.
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