Seven Sisters’ Row (West 25th Street)
“Sisters’ Row” (also called “Seven Sisters’ Row) was located on West 25th Street, near Seventh Avenue, and was known for its houses of prostitution. As described in the book The Secrets of the Great City (1868), seven sisters of a New England family came into this area, giving it this name.
“Sisters’ Row”—located in Manhattan’s infamous “Tenderloin”—became largely historical by 1900.
Google Books
The Secrets of the Great City
By Edward Winslow Martin (pseudonym of James Dabney McCabe)
Philadelphia, PA: National Publishing Company
1868
Pg. 293:
THE SISTERS’ ROW.
This is the name given to a row of first-class houses in West Twenty-fifth street, all fashionable houses of prostitution. A woman came to this city from a New England village, and was enticed into one of the fashionable dens. SHe paid a visit to her home, dressed up in all her finery. Her parents believed her a Broadway saleswoman, but to her sisters, one (Pg. 294—ed.) by one, she confided the life of gayety and pleasure she led, and one by one the sisters left the peaceful village, until, at last, the whole seven sisters were domiciled in the same crime-gilt palaces in West Twenty-fifth street. Thus, one sister ruine six in her whole family; how many others in the same place is unknown.
Google Books
New York City Guide:
a comprehensive guide to the five boroughs of the metropolis—Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond
By Federal Writers’ Project
New York, NY: Random House
1939
Pg. 164:
Sisters’ Row, near here (Sisth Avenue and Thirtieth Street—ed.) was run be seven sisters of reputedly great physical charm. On certain nights only gentlement in evening dress were admitted, and all the proceeds taken in on Christmas Eve were donated to charity.
Google Books
Low Life:
Lures and Snares of Old New York
BY Luc Sante
New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux
1991
Pg. 184:
Even fancier was Seven Sisters’ Row, on 25th Street near Seventh Avenue, where seven adjacent houses were run by seven women said to be sisters from a small New England village. The sisters ran tidy, expensive houses, with parlors in which their young ladies—as well schooled as if they had been convent-reared, which in a sense they were—played the guitar and practiced the art of refined conversation.
OCLC WorldCat record
Murder on Sisters’ Row : a gaslight mystery
Author: Victoria Thompson
Publisher: New York : Berkley Prime Crime, 2011.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : English : 1st ed
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
When a philanthropist’s involvement in the rescue of a prostitute leads to murder, Sarah Brandt’s significant other, Detective Sgt. Frank Malloy, can’t prevent her from investigating. Set at the end of the 19th century in New York City.
Joe Bruno on the Mob
Joe Bruno on the Mob – Satan’s Circus
November 10, 2011 by Joe Bruno’s Blogs
In the 1860’s, the most famous of the bordellos in Satan’s Circus was called Sisters’ Row, which was located at 25th Street near 7th Avenue. Sisters’ Row was a series of seven side-by-side brothels run by seven sisters, who had come to New York City from a New England village seeking fame and fortune. At first, the seven sisters tried to get legitimate jobs, but then they realized that the sex trade was rampant, out in the open, protected by the police, and quite profitable. So why not make some serious money from this phenomenon?
Sisters’ Row was considered the most expensive bordello in New York City. It was frequented by the blue-bloods of society, and quite frankly, only the rich could afford their prices. The working girls were advertised as “cultured and pleasing companions, accomplished on the piano and guitar, and familiar with the charms and graces of correct sexual intercourse.” On certain days of the month, no man was admitted unless he had an engraved invitation, wore evening dress, and carried a bouquet of flowers. And on Christmas Eve, all the proceeds garnered that night on Sisters’ Row was donated to charity.
NoMad
September 20, 2012
NoMad’s Wilder Days: Broads
(...)
Sisters’ Row, which was located on 25th Street, was a series of seven side-by-side brothels run by seven sisters, who had come to New York from a New England village seeking fame and fortune. Sisters’ Row was considered the most expensive bordello in New York City. It was frequented by the blue bloods of society — only the rich could afford their prices. On certain days of the month, no man was admitted unless he had an engraved invitation, wore evening dress, and carried a bouquet of flowers. And on Christmas Eve, all the proceeds garnered that night on Sisters’ Row was donated to charity.