A legend, by definition, is a story from the past that is widely believed, but cannot be proven. And there are boatloads of unproven Seacoast legends. Historian Ray Brighton makes a compelling case, however, for the legend of the “Borrowed Bordello Balcony.”
According to Brighton, the second-story bay window at 35 Bow Street in Portsmouth was once attached to a South End bordello. The alleged “house of ill repute” was located at 15 State St. near the entrance to the Memorial Bridge, and adjacent to the ongoing construction at the former Connie Bean Community Center. The Elm House was operated first by Thomas Lynsky and then by Eva White.
Ms. White was arrested for running a “disorderly house” in 1911, along with other infamous madams Alta Roberts, Etta DeForest, and Mary Baker. Following pressure from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and a contentious mayoral contest, the houses were closed permanently in 1912. Portsmouth marshal Thomas Entwistle had turned a blind eye to local prostitution for decades. He refused to resign, but was forced out of office. A Civil War veteran, the father of five daughters, a church vestryman, and state senator, Entwistle is remembered today primarily as a corrupt cop in an age when prostitution flourished in New Hampshire’s only seaport.
Brighton exposed the hush-hush history of the Water Street (now Marcy Street) “Combat Zone” in his 1973 history of Portsmouth, “They Came to Fish.” He noted with a wink and a nod that the following year, in 1913, the Elm House was adapted as headquarters of the benevolent Seaman’s Friend Society that provided sleeping quarters and a reading room for visiting sailors.
When the Elm House was later razed, legend says, Eva White preserved the large bay window and transplanted it to 35 Bow St. Brighton offers photographic evidence that the balcony window and its ornate wooden supports are one and the same. Research continues.
By J, Dennis Robinson
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