Kitty Williams Tavern

At the heights of the River Street red light district, no sporting house was more opulent, extravagant, or well-advertised than Miss Kitty Williams'.  There are no known photos of Miss Kitty or the interior of her 42-room brothel, but Sporting Guides of the era describe the property (and services available) in great detail. 

Somewhat feminist for her time, Kitty prided herself on never hiring a girl under 21, never keeping a girl against her will, and for allowing girls to keep enough of their earnings to set up a "retirement account." At a 1914 vice hearing, years after her brothel had closed, Williams pointed to dozens of self-made women still living in Milwaukee who started at her brothel and became successful on their own accord. She also pointed out how vice and crime had escalated in the city since River Street had been shut down. 

Miller lost her tavern license in 1939 under similar charges of "allowing the unsavory to congregate and conspire." As it turns out, Kitty became a bit of a fairy godmother to wayward gay youth in her golden years, opening up her massive home to those who had none. Undaunted, she got a friend to reopen the bar under their own license and fearlessly kept on serving -- even on election day.

After hearing testimony that Miss Kitty's had long catered to "men of questionable moral character," and openly served "loitering minors," the Milwaukee Common Council unanimously voted in April 1942 to revoke the bar license of Samuel Showen. 

On June 2, 1942, Joseph Metz attempted to reopen Miss Kitty's Tavern (219 E. State St.) He was rejected by the Common Council when they discovered he was operating on behalf of Miss Kitty herself. The Common Council discovered that Metz was Samuel Showen's brother-in-law -- and that both men were in cahoots with local homosexuals.

Katy/Kitty died in January 1943 at age 79 after a long illness. Initial reports speculated that little of her grand wealth remained, but her estate (valued at about $469,000 in today's dollars) was divided among nieces and nephews. Her massive home sat, crumbling away at State and Water, until being stripped and demolished in 1963 for a City Hall surface parking lot. Red Arrow Park now sits on this footprint. 

For years, Miss Kitty's house continued to do business -- in spirit only -- in the Streets of Old Milwaukee at the Milwaukee Public Museum.