Miss Laura's Still Welcomes Visitors to Fort Smith, Arkansas

It only seems fitting that a town with Fort Smith, Arkansas's reputation as a wild west frontier stop would have the National Register of Historic Places' only bordello as its' Visitor's Center. Fort Smith was once dubbed "Hell on the Border," and was famous as home to Hanging Judge Isaac Parker. Miss Laura's Whorehouse and Tourist Welcome Center was opened as a bordello by Fort Smith prostitute Laura Ziegler. In 1898, she borrowed $3000 from a local bank and purchased a building that was conveniently located between the Arkansas River and the railroad tracks. Ziegler opened her bordello in 1903, and turned Miss Laura's into the most high class of the seven houses on Bordello Row.

Miss Laura made sure her bordello was 'respectable" by allowing the girls downstairs only if they were fully dressed. Each girl was also required to undergo regular physical examinations with the results tacked to her bedpost. The State of Arkansas issued each girl a clean bill of health certificate, and today the Visitor's Center provides replicas of the certificates as souvenirs for visitors. Prices at Miss Laura's were as high as the class-three dollars when the going rate at the other houses was one dollar.

The upstairs room at the Tourist Center are decorated with period furniture and filled with period dresses as well as artifacts that have been found during remodels and excavation of other bordello sites. Downstairs, in what were smoking and brandy rooms for gentleman callers, brochures and information on the tourist attractions in Western Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma are available for travelers.

Legalized prostitution ended in 1924 and the building came close to destruction many times until Donald W. Reynolds purchased Miss Laura's in 1963. In 1973, Miss Laura's was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Before being turned into Fort Smith's Visitor's Center, Miss Laura's served as an upscale restaurant. It became the Visitor's Center in 1992, but in 1996, the roof was heavily damaged by a tornado. The building was restored and is currently in good condition.

A stop at Miss Laura's is the perfect way to start your tour of historic Fort Smith. For people who are inclined to rush through the town on Interstate 40 on their way to or from Oklahoma, Miss Laura's Whorehouse and Tourist Welcome Center provides an opportunity to slow down and take in the magnificence of one of the truly great frontier towns.