Murder Bay

In the 1860s, much of the area south of Pennsylvania Avenue and a few blocks east of the White House had become a disreputable slum known as Murder Bay, the home to an extensive criminal underclass and numerous brothels.

"[5][6][7][8] The two trapezoidal blocks sandwiched between Pennsylvania Avenue and Madison Drive (now the site of the National Gallery of Art) became home to such expensive brothels that it gained the nickname "Marble Alley.

[9] A large house known as Bull's Head existed at the rear of the hotel that is now Old Ebbitt Grill.

[10] In the late 1890s, the Electric Vehicle Company established a circular showroom and service center at 15th Street NW and Ohio Avenue.

[11] In the mid-1910s, the federal government acquired land on Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets and several blocks south, but no demolition or construction was conducted.

The National Mall, Washington, c. 1908. Murder Bay is visible at the far left
C Street NW near 13th Street NW in 1912: Known from the mid-1800s to the 1920s as "Murder Bay," this area was home to numerous brothels.