Nina Clifford
Nina Clifford (August 3, 1851 – July 14, 1929) was a Canadian-born[1] madam who ran the most popular[2] brothel in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1889 to 1929.
Clifford was born Johanna Crow (also known as "Hannah") on August 3, 1851, in Chatham, Canada West to Irish or German immigrant parents.
Business was good, and in 1895 records show that Clifford employed 11 prostitutes and three servants.
[1][4] In 1913 Clifford was charged with bribery in connection with a corruption case against former police chief Martin Flanagan and detective Fred Turner, but avoided conviction by testifying for the prosecution.
She ran the business personally until she died[3] of a stroke on July 14, 1929, aged 78, in Detroit while visiting family.
[4] Journalist and St. Paul mayor Larry Hodgson wrote a poem to mark the event: "The Lay of Nina Clifford" The windows are grimy and covered with dust In that old house under the hill The door hinges rusty, the lock is bust The spider webs cover it still No longer do gay lights their welcome convey Inviting the wayfarer in To choose from the bevy, his favorite lay To dally a while and sin Gone are the sofas and plush covered chairs From the parlor once happy and bright No longer do douche pans in bedrooms upstairs Clank busily all thru the night No more do fat durghers play and carouse And some pretty blonds on their backs For Nina is dead and her once famous house Is sold to pay up the back tax They're widening the street so they're tearing it down The whorehouse that was once the pride of the town Soon won't be worth more than a fart It's stone they are taking the morgue to repair A purpose appropriate – true For many a stiff has been laid in them both
Even as me and you[4]It was rumored that underground tunnels linked Clifford's brothel to the Minnesota Club for easy access by club members, but this was disproved by a 1997 excavation of the site for the new Science Museum of Minnesota, during which no tunnels were found.
