[3] Omaha's Burnt District was a particular area of downtown where most of the city's brothels were located.
The most notorious of the brothels was called "the Cribs", and consisted of rows of shacks with alleyways filled with young girls.
The existence of prostitution on this scale was justified by the Christian community as a necessary evil; it was thought the district would help protect "good" women from sexual assault like a sewer that drains moral impurity from the Christian world.
[2] The impact of these areas contributed to heavy corruption, terrible abuse of women and children, abortions, suicides, and an estimated 30% of the men in the city having sexually transmitted diseases.
[2] An Episcopalian minister from Rochester, New York was popular throughout Omaha for his missionary work within the Burnt District.