As Dawson made the shift from a mining camp to a town with a stable middle class, moral outcry against the city’s prostitutes became more common. They were shuffled from Second Avenue to Fourth, by the edge of the swampy ground, and by 1901 Dawson’s prostitutes were forced to move to West Dawson, across the Yukon River, or to Lousetown, just across the Klondike River from Dawson City. Increased police scrutiny followed, and prostitution slowed down until the 1920’s, when large-scale dredge-mining operations saw an increase in the seasonal labour force. Dawson’s last brothel, run by Mathilde “Ruby” Scott, closed its doors in 1961.
