- Location
- 15 W. Zarragossa Street
- Years
- ca. 1893 - 1966
- Now
- Bodacious Brew parking lot
Mary “Mollie” McCoy operated the most famous bordello in Pensacola’s red-light district, located at 15 W. Zarragossa Street. She purchased the property for $6,500 in 1893 after fire destroyed her previous establishment on Baylen Street. McCoy was one of sixteen madams listed in the 1900 city directory. West Zarragossa had the highest concentration of brothels, giving it the nickname “The Line.” McCoy died in 1920.
After several crackdowns of limited success, the U.S. Navy quarantine effort permanently shuttered the district in 1941. Zarragossa was briefly renamed Liberty Street and number 15 turned into the Liberty Hotel.
In 1950 it was purchased by the Waterfront Rescue Mission, whose motto was “I was a stranger and ye took me in.” In 1966, Waterfront demolished the old structure to build a new headquarters. “The Line” portion of Zarragossa was renamed Fred Levin Way in 2021 after the local attorney.
