This Neighborhood In Massachusetts Was One Of The Most Dangerous Places In The Nation In The 1970s

The Bay State is consistently ranked as one of the safest states in the nation. We’re fortunate to have plenty of peaceful streets and happy communities.

However, one place in Massachusetts holds the unfortunate distinction of having been one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in America: the Combat Zone.

Wikimedia Commons/Peter Vanderwarker

The "Combat Zone" was the nickname given to the area around Washington Street in Boston, including the space between Boylston Street and Kneeland Street. The neighborhood was the official adult entertainment district of the city and had a reputation for all sorts of crime, including knife violence and prostitution.

The crime rate climbed so high that the neighborhood began to be known as the "Combat Zone," in no small part due to a series of exposé articles published by Jean Cole in the Daily Record during the 1960s. The Combat Zone moniker also reflected the fact that soldiers and sailors on shore leave from the Charleston Navy Yard would flock to the neighborhood to take advantage of its adult amusements, giving the streets the appearance of being covered in military personnel.

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Wikimedia Commons/City of Boston

Strip clubs, peep shows, adult bookstores and X-rated movie theaters were on almost every corner. Alcohol flowed freely past closing time, with patrons ordering "cold tea" and receiving a teapot of beer. Organized crime was a problem and police worked overtime to keep the streets as under control as possible.

Today, the area is part of Chinatown and has undergone a thorough transformation from seedy crime den to respectable business hub.

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Wikimedia Commons/Margaret L. DeWolf

The Pilgrim Theatre, which once showed adult films and was conveniently located next to a hotel, is now a complex of luxury apartments. When modern passerby peer into the windows of shops at the intersection of Essex and Washington Streets, they’ll see visions of gourmet flat bread pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee rather than racy posters and adult performers.

Do you have any memories of the Combat Zone? For more Massachusetts nostalgia, check out these 10 things you’ll remember if you grew up in Massachusetts in the 1980s.