Ever wonder why most bars above Dillon have apartments? Ever wonder why Dillon has so many drinking establishments? I know growing up in Dillon you always heard the rumors of Dillons past and how prostitution ended in the late 70's.
My family owned the Club Bar in the late 60's early 70's and my dad has quite a few stories about the dealings of the working woman and the people who would visit them.
On November 16, the Beaverhead County Museum hosted a history lesson on houses of commercial affection and watering holes of Dillon. To say it was eye opening and entertaining is a somewhat boring way to describe this event.
Hosted by Kristy Pozega, Mark McGinley, and Lee Graves they started with the early history of bars in Dillon, along with the working women who lived either upstairs in them or in another place known as the island.
Lee would start the presentation by discussing some of the stories involving the ladies and their customers and the situations they would get into. From dodging one's wife to thinking you would become rich by falling out a backdoor, only to find no one wanted to admit they were with you when this happened. The stories he told can be traced back to some publications on the matter to people who witnessed it as well as old news articles.
Kristy started the night off discussing some of the madams of Dillon and the places they owned and worked at. Many of these women made a very large sum of money and were quite generous to those in need. But they also were not accepted by a lot of the townspeople. She discussed the history of bars in Dillon, their location, how they made it through prohibition, and the relationship they had with prostitution. Many of the bars still stand in the same place today; they have just gone through some name changes and remodels. While others look almost the same.
The night was a great way to hear about Dillons unspoken past along with getting a very unique history lesson. Don't worry if you missed out on this presentation; the museum has plans to host other presentations later in the year on various topics. Also according to Kristy she loves to talk history as she styles and clips hair.
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