What was Hell’s Half Acre?
FOLKS HAVE APPLIED the name Hell’s Half Acre to hot springs, lava fields, Civil War battle-fields, a New Jersey golf bunker, river rapids, a cowboy movie, and vice districts across the United States, including in Nashville, Los Angeles, and St. Louis.
Our Half Acre sat between Wellston and University City, a tiny 700-foot-long sliver of unincorporated territory. Its free-floating status contributed to its wild character: It didn’t belong
