Civilizing San Francisco
- Jul 21
- 3 min read
The story of Charles and Belle Cora is a tale of prostitution, gambling, drunkenness and murder. But most of all, it is a love story.
One hundred sixty years ago, Belle’s brothel stood on the corner of Grant and Waverly streets (then called Dupont and Pike streets) in the area now known as Chinatown.
She had arrived in California in 1849 from New Orleans with her gambler partner, the dashing Charles Cora. They traveled through the gold rush towns amassing a fortune with their respective talents and settled in San Francisco. There, Belle built the most elegant brothel in The City with the most beautiful women, the highest prices and the most prominent clients.
If Belle’s occupation was unseemly, she fulfilled a community need, gave honest value and made generous charitable contributions. Charles’ occupation, gambling, was a favorite activity in early San Francisco. They were a leading couple in San Francisco’s early gold rush days.
But times were changing, as The City became more established and families began to arrive. Respectability, middle-class morality and the second vigilantes committee were about to descend on San Francisco like a giant wet blanket.
In November 1855, Belle and Charles attended a performance at the American Theatre on Sansome Street and were seated in the expensive first balcony seats. Seated behind them were the new United States Marshal, William Richardson, and his wife. When Richardson learned the Coras were in the same section as “decent people,” he demanded that they be removed. When the manager refused, the Richardsons angrily left the theater.
Two days later, a drunken Richardson confronted and threatened Charles Cora in the downtown streets. A mutual friend calmed the situation, but two hours later, they met again in front of the Blue Wing saloon on Montgomery Street. Cora and Richardson walked down Clay Street to Leidesdorff Street. Angry words were heard, a shot rang out and Richardson fell dead.
The killing of a U.S. marshal ignited a call for vigilante justice. In the midst of the lynch mob atmosphere, defense eyewitnesses were afraid to testify. Belle paid $30,000 to hire Colonel D.D. Baker, San Francisco’s foremost lawyer, to defend Cora. Baker managed to get a hung jury, and Cora was remanded to the Broadway County Jail to await retrial.
The Cora-Richardson confrontation was the first instance of a conflict between two competing visions of The City: Is San Francisco a fun-loving open town or is it a law-abiding respectable town? The conflict continues to this day.
At this time, James King of William founded the crusading Daily Bulletin, which attempted to drive gambling and prostitution from The City. This letter excerpt, from a subscriber who was outraged that brothels existed on a major city thoroughfare, captures the sentiments of his supporters”
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