Mary
Ann Hall (died January 29, 1886) ran a successful brothel from the
1840s until about 1878 at 349 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C., about four
blocks west of the U.S. Capitol. Before the National Museum of the American
Indian was built on the site in 1999, the Smithsonian Institution conducted an
archeological excavation of the foundations and garbage dump of the house.
The expensive tableware in the
garbage dump was made of ironstone and porcelain. Food remnants include meat,
fowl, fish, and exotic fruits like coconuts and berries. French champagne corks
were especially numerous. She built a three-story house on the site which rose
greatly in value. Her business was apparently very successful and she died with
a net worth of $87,000 - worth over $2,000,000 in 2005 dollars.
In 1864 the Union Army's Provost
Marshal published a list of brothels in Washington and Mary Ann Hall's had 18
"inmates," making it the largest in the city.
Mary was buried with her sister
and other family members under "large and dignified" memorials at the
Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
1861 topographical map by A.
Boschke of the District of Columbia showing the location of Mary Ann Hall's
brothel.