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An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos

The National Prohibition Act was passed by Congress on January 16, 1919, and officially went into effect on January 17, 1920. By early 1921, government statisticians reported that prohibition had had a positive impact on the country. It showed that labor was more constant and that absenteeism at jobs had decreased. The same government report showed that prostitution had diminished as a result of the National Prohibition Act. That might have been the case in some cities across the country, but in Deadwood, South Dakota, prostitution continued to be big business.

Listed among bordello owners who competed for business in Deadwood in the 1920s and 1930s was a woman of German descent named Pauline Longland. Born Pauline Wirz on May 22, 1891, in La Salle, Illinois, she came to South Dakota in 1910 and married Burr Longland in 1914. Her bordellos were located at 616 and 618 Main Street. When she was arrested for running a disorderly house in August 1920 and paid a sixty dollar fine for the crime, the court warned her against further offenses. Pauline’s line of work was so lucrative she wasn’t inclined to leave the profession for any reason.

On May 16, 1921, authorities raided her business, along with the businesses of several other bordello owners. She was taken into custody and charged with “keeping a house of ill fame.” Between 1922 and 1930, she was arrested four more times for the same violation and three times for possessing and selling alcohol. In 1930, Pauline was sentenced to ninety days in jail on various liquor offenses and ninety days for maintaining a public nuisance.

Pauline passed away on February 22, 1931, after suffering several months with a serious illness. “Her services, conducted by Rev. Alban Reed of St. Ambrose Catholic Church, were attended by a concourse of friends and relatives, and the casket was buried beneath a profusion of flowers in loving remembrance of the many friends of the deceased,” the February 26, 1931, edition of the Weekly Pioneer Times read.

To learn more about the busts at the Deadwood brothels read

An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos

Join me at the Brothel Deadwood Museum on September 26 & 27,  2025, for a lively talk on the police raids of the bordellos and the various madams who were arrested as a result.