At the beginning of the 1900s, a specific area in Victoria featured a prominent number of German immigrants, homes and businesses. This area of town was referred to as Dutch Lane.
How and when the nickname Dutch Lane came to be is up for debate. While some believe the section of Bloomington Road from Juan Street to Pleasant Green was called Dutch Lane, others are adamant it was in òòò½ÊÓƵœSilver City,òòò½ÊÓƵ which, in 1913, was the area between Bloomington Road and Simon Drive, now Southwest Ben Jordan Street.
The city directory of 1913 also shows Dutch Lane to begin at East Street at the Southern Pacific Railroad Train Depot on East Santa Rosa Street and continued east onto Brownson Street.
In a Victoria article from June 4, 1972, Sidney R. Weisiger places Dutch Lane from the East end block 1100 to Brownson Street and past the old sporting section of East Juan Linn Street.
Henry Wolff Jr., former Advocate reporter and columnist, agrees with Weisiger, but extends the boundaries. He believed that all of Juan Linn Street outside of the downtown area was referred to as Dutch Lane.
In his column Henryòòò½ÊÓƵ™s Journal titled òòò½ÊÓƵœTimes Do Change,òòò½ÊÓƵ from August 23, 1979, Wolff tells the story of two men who are back in town for a class reunion admiring all the changes in town while reminiscing on the past. Wolff writes, òòò½ÊÓƵœGoing down Juan Linn Street, which was called Dutch Lane, they recalled a market where they could buy three slices of hogòòò½ÊÓƵ™s head cheese for a nickel.òòò½ÊÓƵ In the story, he refers to Dutch Lane as a street.
òòò½ÊÓƵœA lot of German people had built homes on the [Diamond] Hill which is near that section of Juan Linn Street that was once better known as Dutch Lane. That was one of the main streets into town at the time,òòò½ÊÓƵ Wolff wrote.
In 2008, Aprill Brandon, former Advocate reporter, wrote that the original Dutch Lane in Victoria was referred to as òòò½ÊÓƵœCow S- òòò½ÊÓƵ” òòò½ÊÓƵ” òòò½ÊÓƵ” Laneòòò½ÊÓƵ due to the number of cows which bedded down on the old dirt roads back in the late 1800s.
Over the years, Dutch Lane inhabited a large number of family owned grocery stores and businesses. But the area soon transformed from farm land into the townòòò½ÊÓƵ™s entertainment hub with saloons and pool halls. Soon after, it became Victoriaòòò½ÊÓƵ™s red light district and home to a number of brothels located across the tracks, behind the old train depot, complete with working girls.
At the turn of the century, Victoria became well-known for being a sporting town. Not basketball, baseball or football, mind you, but gambling and drinking joints and what Wolff describes as houses of ill repute. Dutch Lane became the notorious red light district in town when Albert Ernest, a local newspaper publisher, a city council and school board member, pushed to move these sporting establishments to the outskirts of town according to Wolff.
While few reminders of Dutch Lane remain, the cultural significance and influence of the German immigrants who called it home still remain in Victoria today.
In this column called Ask Madison, Madison Oòòò½ÊÓƵ™Hara, a Victoria native and Advocate reporter, answers questions readers have about anything and everything to do with the Crossroads. Email your question to Madison at askmadison@vicad.com or call her at 361-580-6558.
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