Gem theater
The Gem Theater was a famous saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota under the leadership of Al Swearengen . Both Swearengen and the Gem are an integral part of the HBO TV series Deadwood .
history
The Gem was first opened on April 7, 1877 on the corner of Wall Street and Main Street in the then newly established Deadwood gold rush settlement. In addition to serving alcohol, the main business of the saloon consisted of variety shows and prostitution . For his brothel Swearengen lured young women with promises to the remote Deadwood and then forced them to prostitution, among other things by using violence.
The gem was considered extremely lucrative, bringing in an average of $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 in the evening, which is roughly $ 85,000 to $ 170,000 today after taking inflation into account.
During the great city fire on September 26, 1879, the «Gem» burned down to the ground. Swearengen took this as an opportunity to rebuild his establishment even larger and more splendid. Even after a second fire in 1894, Swearengen rebuilt the "Gem". During another fire in 1899 the fire brigade found that someone had removed the keys to the hydrants; the building burned down.
Swearengen left town and went to Colorado. In 1904 he was found dead in Denver with a serious head injury. The circumstances of his death have not been investigated.