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Belle London (Dora B. Topham)

Born in Kentucky circa 1866, Belle London was a famous Madam who operated brothels in Ogden, Utah from 1889. She built the parlor house "No. 10 Electric Alley," a complex of small cubicles for prostitutes, close to Union Station on 25th Street. Famously, London used the upper level of the London Ice Cream Parlor as a cover for one of her brothels.

London married Thomas Topham, a master boilermaker for Union Pacific in 1890. Topham would become a saloon keeper, and together with London, they would gain much influence in Ogden. London also had an adopted daughter named Ethel Topham.

Police raids on 25th Street in 1912 set out to eliminate prostitution, and Belle London left Ogden in around 1914. London moved to San Francisco and changed her name to Maxine Rose. She continued working in the sex business and purchased a hotel.

London died in 1924 in San Francisco due to injuries she sustained when she got crushed while attempting to untie a rope she was using to tow an automobile.