Dolly's House in Ketchikan, Alaska

On our summer trip to Alaska, I found myself in the center of the small port town known as Ketchikan, Alaska. When you go on a cruise, if you don't book an all day excursion or make alternate plans, you might find yourself in the middle of a tourist trap of a town with nothing to do for the rest of your afternoon. Although it's in the beautiful backdrop of Alaska, my family and I were there with my elderly in-laws who couldn't walk around a lot, or go hiking. Since we are not that big on window-shopping, we waited by the creek and watched the salmon swim below, while my in-laws searched for souvenirs. It didn't take me long to feel restless.

We were on Creek Street, Ketchikan's former red-light District. From the brochures, I learned Ketchikan was once a booming mining, logging, and fishing town. In the 1920s and 1930s, miners, loggers and fishermen would frequent the bordellos. It's told that there were often just as much men coming down the hill of married man's lane, as there were salmon. There were over 30 bordellos on Creek Street, the most well known which is Dolly's House. Unlike some of the other brothels in this red light district which had various working girls to choose from, Dolly worked "alone" in her own house. Dolly was born, Thelma Dolly Copeland. She left home at an early age of 13 and later worked as a waitress. She soon found she could make more money entertaining men in the bedroom, than she could waiting-on them at the table. Dolly considered herself a "sporting woman" not a prostitute. Her clients were well-respected businessmen and government officials whom she built friendly relationships with. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more. With plenty of time to kill, I walked over to Dolly's House.

As you step into Dolly's Victorian style home, you are greeted by a full figured women dressed in a red vintage outfit who gives you a brief synopsis of Dolly's life history. The photos in Dolly's living room walls and on the piano reveal that she was a shapely woman with a beautiful face like those you would see in pictures of old Hollywood stars. Dolly's house is rather small two story house full of antiques. The house has been preserved to look just like it did when Dolly lived there. Downstairs is the living room, dining, kitchen, and secret compartment where she would sell liquor to her guests. I was surprised by the number of unique antiques I had never seen before.

I made my way curiously upstairs and saw an old fashioned female vibrator inside a display case Dolly's bedroom. For some reason, I assumed that thing must have been invited in the 1970's but apparently it has been around for a lot longer. Looking at Dolly's sewing machine and restroom, I could see she was the creative type. She made some flowers for her shower curtains out of condoms. I overheard the conversation of the couple behind me as they walked around seemingly appalled by the details they learned about Dolly. She was a success at what she did, so the number of men she serviced a day was incomprehensible. We can judge Dolly, like they once judged Mary Magdalene, or we can take a look at her history and see a women who tried to make the best of things the only way she knew how. Perhaps Dolly's life is better understood, through an anecdote the museum guide blurted out at the beginning of the tour. She said Dolly didn't have to worry about birth control because she had been so brutally sexually-abused as a child; she was unable to conceive children. I turned around to get a glance of the women who would say this so casually.

I walked out of the worn house feeling like I had briefly strolled through Dolly's life, only now I was filled with so many more questions that only Dolly could have answered. Dolly's House is not for everyone, but if you are curious to look inside the life of someone else, and you can set your judgments aside, you might just learn something. Some people see Dolly for the clever businesswomen that she was. Dolly had the foresight to have her clientele sign her log each time they came to visit her. With impeccable records like that, it's no wonder why her brothel was the last to be closed down in 1953, a full 20 years after the Creek Street red-light district was shut down.

Dolly continued to entertain men well into her golden years. Before her death, Dolly made all the arrangements to insure her place would stay open as a museum. In doing so, Madam Dolly Arthur saw to it that her life would continue to be a part of Ketchikan's history.

Dolly's House Museum-Gift Shop
24 Creek Street
Ketchikan, AK 99901