In the heart of Fort Worth’s historic Hell’s Half Acre district, a seedy underworld flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s, where sex and gambling were the main attractions for the city’s most notorious characters.
The Half Acre, as it was commonly known, was a square-mile stretch of land filled with saloons, brothels, and gambling houses. It was a lawless area where criminals and corrupt officials thrived, and where anything could be bought for the right price.
One of the most infamous establishments in the Half Acre was the White Elephant Saloon, owned by Luke Short, a gambler and gunfighter with a violent reputation. The White Elephant was known for its high-stakes poker games and rowdy clientele, and it was rumored to be frequented by the likes of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
In addition to the saloons and gambling houses, the Half Acre was also home to a number of brothels, where women from all walks of life worked as prostitutes. These establishments were often fronts for organized crime, with pimps and madams controlling the women and taking a cut of their earnings.
Despite its lawless reputation, the Half Acre was not without its own brand of justice. In 1887, the infamous Luke Short was involved in a shootout with a rival gambler, Jim Courtright, that left Courtright dead and Short acquitted of all charges. Short later sold the White Elephant and left Fort Worth, but his legacy lived on in the legend of the Half Acre.
As the years passed, Fort Worth’s Hell’s Half Acre began to decline, due in part to the efforts of the local authorities to clean up the city. By the early 20th century, most of the saloons and gambling houses had been shut down, and the area was redeveloped into a more respectable business district.
Today, the Hell’s Half Acre district is a shadow of its former self, with only a few remnants of its notorious past still standing. But the legacy of sex and gambling in Fort Worth’s most notorious neighborhood lives on in the stories and legends that have been passed down through generations.