Partly because of this injunction, women were able to dance together at the Madison. In 1958, MacIver Wells, owner of the Madison, sought and was granted a court injunction against police harassing his customers. While strict Blue Laws governed all the city's bars, both gay and straight, these laws were often used selectively by police to harass gay bars and to demand payoffs. Though men made up most of the clientele, some bars catered especially to women, including the Silver Slipper, the Submarine Room, and the Madison Tavern. This birthplace of Seattle's gay community was the location for many of the earliest gay bars, bathhouses, and other spaces. The gay community was a part of the wave of individuals who wound up calling Pioneer Square home, and until the 1970s Pioneer Square was the heart of gay and lesbian Seattle. As this happened, the area also became identified for providing services for people on the edges of Seattle society. By the 1930s, the term “Skid Row” was part of the national vocabulary, replacing the original reference to Henry Yesler’s “Skid Road” for the lumber mill. At the turn of the 19th century, Pioneer Square was the heart of Seattle’s downtown, but as the city grew, the downtown core drifted north and over time, Pioneer Square became a less desirable place.
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