Entry No. 6 — the Anchorage file — filed under: brothel history

Valley of the Moon Park (the old crib-house red-light row)

This leafy 22-acre creekside park along Chester Creek was, in November 1916, a row of one-woman 'crib houses' — solo brothels built by sex workers who'd just been evicted by the Forest Service from the first red-light strip near the Park Strip. The whole district was dismantled weeks after the era's only known photo was taken.

The move: Pull up David Reamer's ADN history on your phone, then walk the Chester Creek path at dusk and try to place where the crib-house row stood — a quiet, slightly illicit history scavenger hunt that nobody else on the trail knows they're walking through.

📍 Before you go Tucked into the South Addition neighborhood off 17th Avenue, the park has its own lot, though it fills fast on bright summer days; it doubles as a family playground and dog park, so keep the red-light backstory between the two of you. The payoff is timing: come in summer when Anchorage daylight stretches past midnight, or aim for the long dusk that makes the creekside path feel quietly haunted. The paved Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail runs right through, linking Westchester Lagoon to the west and Goose Lake to the east, so you can stretch the walk in either direction and pair it with the Coastal Trail nearby.

• 📍 South Addition
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Low-key
• 🌗 Outdoors

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: adn.com · x.com

last checked: 2026-06-06