Spider Kelly's

This block of Pacific Avenue was all nightclubs (twenty-two of them, with a sprinkling of movie theaters and bars). It became known as the Terrific Street in 1910s and 1920s, arising from the ashes of Barbary Coast's Red Light District.
The name referred to the quality of ragtime and jazz played here. World-class entertainment was offered by such greats as Sarah Bernhardt and Anna Pavlova and clubs were designed with special "slumming balconies" that allowed more cautious club-goers to enjoy it without mixing with everyone else. Texas Tommy and Turkey Trot dance steps were invented here.

You are standing in front of boxer Spider Kelly's^{1James Curtin, not to be confused with the NY boxer Spider Kelly} club, called "undoubtedly the worst dive in the world" ^{2In 1912 by a visiting Chicago police captain, and anything that can shock a Chicago policeman is indeed shocking}. It was one of a few in the area open to all races, and so popular that patrons were not discouraged even by bullets coming through the wall from the bar next door.
Spider Kelly's was famous for not providing prostitutes. Instead, the ladies who worked here would, if importuned by a visiting gentleman, offer to sell him a key to their room for $5, and ask him to return after closing time. He would return with the key, and find neither the lady nor the room^{3A similar racket seems to have been run by the Seattle saloon on the same block}.

^{1James Curtin, not to be confused with the NY boxer Spider Kelly}James Curtin, not to be confused with the NY boxer Spider Kelly
^{2In 1912 by a visiting Chicago police captain, and anything that can shock a Chicago policeman is indeed shocking}In 1912 by a visiting Chicago police captain, and anything that can shock a Chicago policeman is indeed shocking
^{3A similar racket seems to have been run by the Seattle saloon on the same block}A similar racket seems to have been run by the Seattle saloon on the same block