Local historian to tell stories of ‘Boats, Brothels and Booze’ at Historical Society meeting on Sunday

QUINCY — The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County will present “Boats, Brothels, and Booze: Quincy had it all!,” a unique program by local historian Iris Nelson, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at the History Museum on the Square, 332 Maine.

In a press release, Nelson said, “While major cities are well-known for organized crime, it is clear that criminal undertakings also operated in smaller remote cities and rural areas throughout the Midwest. As a small town on the Mississippi River, Quincy has a long history as a place where folks could go to indulge in certain socially shunned behaviors, as long as they did it quietly.”

Nelson will discuss some of these behaviors, which allowed Quincy to flourish as a vice economy for decades, as well as how certain practices continued well into the mid-20th century.

The program is free and open to the public.