Terrific Street

The district also attracted many famous entertainers such as actress Sarah Bernhardt, Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova, and musicians Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, and Jelly Roll Morton.

[8] The early decades of the Barbary Coast were marred by persistent lawlessness, gambling, administrative graft, vigilante justice, and prostitution.

[9] The Barbary Coast's most violent and vice-ridden days occurred between the 1860s to the 1880s, when its theft, harassment issues, and violence caused most San Franciscans to avoid the area.

[10] However, with the passage of time San Francisco's government gained strength and competence, and the Barbary Coast's maturing entertainment scene of dance halls and jazz clubs later influenced America's culture.

[12] Due to progressive music clubs like Purcell's which enabled jazz to get an early foothold in San Francisco, there were positive cultural aspects developing in the district.

[13] The Barbary Coast's century-long evolution upon these few blocks of Pacific Street went through massive incarnations due to the city's rapid cultural development during its transition into the 20th century.

[10] However the city's financial boosters then saw an opportunity to clean up Barbary Coast, and transform it into an entertainment area that could be acceptable for every-day San Franciscans.

[14] As a result, the district then drew tremendous crowds, and at night its brightly lit block could be seen from across the bay in Oakland despite the fact that neon lights had not yet been invented.

[14] The new tone of the neighborhood attracted a type of tourist called a slummer—middle and upper class individuals who go to the rough side of town to see how the other half lives.

These resorts offered cleaned-up entertainment venues consisting of large dance floors, variety shows, and musical bands.

[19] Though the slummers in the balconies intended to view the violence and depravity of the early Barbary Coast of which they had heard, what they really got was only a staged performance by employees of the dance hall.

From the seeds of cheap mining-town amusements of the old Barbary Coast, Terrific Street emerged as a vibrant and glamorous district which nurtured the beginnings of arguably America's greatest cultural contribution, jazz music.

[4] The brightest aspect of Terrific Street's culture was its robust jazz music scene which grew from earlier versions of ragtime and blues.

There was The Midway, The Hippodrome, The Thalia, Louie Gomez's, Parenti's Saloon, Griffin's, Spider Kelly's, The Bella Union, and a slug of other places like that.

[33] Sid LeProtti became a major jazz influence on Terrific Street, and his extensive interviews left behind one of the better documented descriptions of the district during its heyday.

By 1915, Sid LeProtti had rebuilt the So Different Jazz Band into one of the finest performing groups of the San Francisco Bay Area.

On one night a customer pulled out a pistol and started shooting, only to have the bartender hit him over the head with a whiskey bottle which ultimately caused his death.

[37] From its start the Thalia received much support from the police department and was allowed stay open until 3 AM, which was way past the 1am curfew that the other dance halls had to abide by.

[38] Differing from Purcell's by its large size and having slummers' balconies, the Thalia was possibly the place where middle-class San Franciscans got their first look at the new ragtime dance steps, like the Texas Tommy and Turkey Trot.

[42] Music historian Alan Lomax's taped interviews and performances by Morton provide one of the most insightful looks into jazz during its earliest days on the west coast.

[43] Though being raised by an upper class Creole family, his apprenticeship on piano took place at a young age inside the bordellos of New Orleans' Storyville district.

[45] With time Morton developed a very competitive attitude towards Sid LeProtti and tried to steal members from Purcell's house band with higher pay.

"[47] Morton implies racial prejudice as a motivation by the police when he explains, "my place was black and tan – for colored and white alike.

[46] Spider Kelly, born James Curtin, was a lightweight boxer and trainer who immigrated to San Francisco from Ireland while an adolescent.

[4] Kelly knew what the public wanted, staged racy floor shows, and his dance hall was known as one of rowdiest clubs of Terrific Street.

In response, Kelly's took extra precaution and installed a sheet-iron boiler plate behind their bar to block any stray bullets that might come through the adjoining wall.

Rolph and his reformist city supervisors along with William Randolf Hearst's newspaper, the Examiner, sought to shut the district and Terrific Street down.

[38] William Randolf Hearst, owner of the Examiner and whose name frequently is attached to the term 'yellow journalism', was instrumental in causing the demise of Terrific Street.

[66] Due to San Francisco's small municipal government, the police department was given an overwhelming amount of responsibility for the Pacific Street scene.

In 1917, the brothels eventually closed due to the Red Light Abatement Act, but by that time all the excitement of Terrific Street had vanished.