McNear: It may be the oldest profession but in Mendocino it was the most hidden

Although it’s often described as the oldest profession in the world, firsthand accounts from sex workers in Mendocino are few and far between. Women often remained unidentified unless they were arrested and noted in the newspaper or mentioned in oral histories, which are vague.

Mendocino’s logging boom brought many single men to the remote coast. For entertainment, many visited the local saloons and brothels. In Mendocino, brothels were often located above saloons in the same building. Fashionable Boarding Houses, another name for brothels, were often located in private homes. Lumber companies were sometimes known to hire women to work in lumber towns to “keep their workers happy.”