Kangaroo, Mississippi
Kangaroo, Mississippi was a "red-light district" and/or shantytown located just north of Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States, in a swampy spot where the Glass Bayou entered the Mississippi River.[1] The settlement took its name from its most famous brothel, but no one living knows how that house of ill repute got its name.[2]
Prior to the American Civil War, Kangaroo was notorious for its gambling halls and occasional instances of public disorder resulting from disputes between the players and/or local law enforcement.[3] On July 5, 1835, the gamblers of Kangaroo shot and killed Rev. Dr. Hugh Bodley, a Presbyterian minister.[1]
Besides the gamblers, other denizens of Kangaroo included "prostitutes, and drunken brawlers." Kangaroo burned down at least once in the 1830s.[4]
See also
[edit]- Natchez-Under-the-Hill
- Narrative of Henry Watson, A Fugitive Slave – describes gambling in Vicksburg
References
[edit]- ^ a b Dickson, Harris (1907-01-12). "The Way of the Reformer". Saturday Evening Post. G. Graham. pp. 7–8.
- ^ Buchanan, Thomas C. (2006). Black Life on the Mississippi: Slaves, Free Blacks, and the Western Steamboat World. University of North Carolina Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-8078-7656-5.
- ^ Bunn, Mike; Williams, Clay (2023). Old Southwest to Old South: Mississippi, 1798–1840. Heritage of Mississippi Series, Vol. IX. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi for the Mississippi Historical Society and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-4968-4380-7. LCCN 2022042580. OCLC 1348393702. Project MUSE book 109599.
- ^ Ballard, Michael B. (2005). Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8078-7621-3.
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