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Mary Thompson (businesswoman)

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Mary E. Thompson (died 1892) was one of the richest early African Americans in Seattle, Washington. She owned the Minnehaha Saloon, located at 319 Jackson street, which had a brothel upstairs.

Thompson reported died in Oakland, California.[1] At the time of her death she owned real estate in Seattle and Butte, Montana. She also had a horse and carriage, an extensive jewellery collection, and $20,000 in cash. By the standards of the time, this made her quite wealthy.[2]

Following Thompson's death, the Minnehaha Saloon was torn down in April 1894.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Very Peculiar Will: It provokes a Contest Among Negroes For a Saloon," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 18, 1893, pg 5.
  2. ^ Taylor, Quintard (1994). The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District, from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-0-295-97345-6.
  3. ^ "Secret Halls and Rooms: Arrangement of an Opium Smoking Join Exposed," The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 18, 1894, pg 8.
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