explore pioneer square
Welcome to the Original Seattle Neighborhood – rich in history, arts, culture, and food!
Madame Lou Graham, born Dorothea Georgine Emile Ohben, immigrated from Germany to Seattle in 1888. Soon after settling here, she established a brothel in Pioneer Square, at the corner of 3rd Ave S and S Washington St. Seattle’s most elite business leaders and visitors frequented Lou Graham’s Parlor House and, as a result, Madame Lou Graham made a fortune and owned a large amount of land in the city. When she died of syphilis in her early 40s, she left her entire estate to relatives in Germany, not the King County public school system, as an urban legend claims.
