User:Fsarkansawyer/sandbox

Miss Laura's is late Victorian building near the Arkansas River front in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Laura Ziegler, for whom it is named, had it built in 1898 to serve as a bordello, and for more than 50 years of its life, it was a house of prostitution. Ziegler was the first madam to operate her business there along Fort Smith's river front. Since the early 1990s, it has been the home of the Fort Smith Visitors Center as well as the offices of the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau. Although its address is 2 North B Street, its original address was 123 First Street. First Street no longer exists and the land on which it made its path is the location of a railyard.

Laura Zeigler bought the lot along First Street in 1898, and then mortgaged it to banker William Blair for $3,000 to build the bordello. She paid off the note in 16 months. In 1915, having moved from Fort Smith, she deeded the land and all the contents of the house to Bertha (Lanthrop) Jones for $5,450.