A simple stone for an very interesting woman!

Miss E.T. Matthews was known as Effie. And a lot of people knew Effie! You see, Effie owned three slightly rough and tumble homes in Athens, Georgia where she ran highly popular but wildly illegal brothels that catered to a variety of Athenians. One of those ‘everyone goes to it but no one will ever admit to it’ kind of situations. And where a lot of people in power turned a blind eye as is often the case. Probably because they were there. Or getting paid to not be there.

She was also known in the community as caring and sharp as a tack businesswoman of some admiration. Here’s an excerpt from a 1990 article in the Red & Black:

Locals say Miss Effie used to send a cab
to women’s clothing stores to pick up
wardrobes. When she and the girls decided
what they wanted, she would send the cab
driver back with the money and the
remaining unwanted clothes. The same was
true of her furniture purchases. She was
strictly a catalogue shopper who paid on
delivery. It is said that doctors made regular
monthly house calls to check on the health of
the girls.

Effie managed to escape one mandatory
public appearance through a note from her
doctor. She was to appear in court in May of
1960 to answer charges of operating a
house of prostitution, but the trial was
postponed because, as the note said, Effie
was too ill with a heart condition and high
blood pressure.

It is the stuff of legends, and images of a
flaming red-haired, Belle Watling-type
madam with a Mae West demeanor are
easily conjured. But, according to Ray, who
met Miss Effie once or twice on his mail
route, she was a tall, somewhat heavy
woman who wore her gray hair swept back
into a bun. “She seemed to have a pleasant
personality,” he said. Tom McGahee, chief
of police when Effie’s was shut down, puts
Effie and her house in the same terms. Both
“had some age on ’em.”

Her line of work may not have been above
reproach, but by most accounts her
business practices were exemplary.

“Legend has it she ran a real orderly place of
business, ” former Mayor Bentley said. “If
you were drinking, you got bounced. If you
were disorderly, you got bounced.”

According to some, Miss Effie was even
struck with a strong sense of civic duty. “She
was very generous,” Bentley said. He
remembered her contributing to Junior
Chamber of Commerce Christmas fundraisers.

One of the stories I’ve heard quite often is that there was a cover charge of sorts in order to keep the lookieloos away. If you walked in the door you had to buy a bottle Coca-Cola for $2. Considering the going rate for the drink was around 10-25 cents, Effie was able to keep the funds rolling in even if you didn’t get a roll in the hay. Ok, I’m very proud of myself for that one!

After her passing in the late 1960’s the brothel limped along for a number of years before finally shuttering. A new District Attorney ran in the early 1970’s on a promise to close the houses and that is exactly what he did. The city purchased the properties and on one fateful day in 1977, the fire department showed up to train their men on a controlled burn. The only fire lit at Effie’s was the final match that torched the place to the ground.

But before the fire, the city decided to cash in on the notoriety of the place and sell Effie’s brick by brick. Literally! You got a hunk brick with a certificate and small plaque as a keepsake.

That’s how I ended up with an Effie’s brick, its info scribbled across a torn piece of copy paper since the plaque is long gone, sitting on the fireplace mantel of the room next to my office.

Another fun fact is that the nearby Elm Street historic covered bridge, built by Washington King, was often referred to as Effie’s Bridge because of the proximity to her houses. Eventually the bridge was moved to Stone Mountain.

I highly recommend watching the YouTube video below for the whole experience. Wowzers!

If you like covered bridges then stop by my much neglected ASRA blog to read about a few of them. Hopefully I’ll be posting more regularly over that way!