Hooker’s Division, aka Murder Bay

In Girl in the Glass, James and Declan sneak out of the Willard Hotel into fictional tunnels built under Washington, D.C.’s downtown. In the novel, the area’s unsavory past is still present, buried under the nearby federal buildings. When they escape the pursuing FBI agents, the pair descends into the remnants of Hooker’s Division, the dangerous, historic neighborhood of saloons and brothels, also known as Murder Bay.

By the 1860s in Washington, D.C., the area southeast of the White House was home to extensive criminal activity and numerous brothels, a disreputable slum known as Murder Bay. Crime and violence were so bad, even the police avoided the area. In Girl in the Glass, this is why James and Declan are confident the FBI agents won’t follow.

During the Civil War, General Joseph Hooker and his Union soldiers attracted even more prostitution and other seedy ills to Murder Bay, further concentrating the dark underbelly of the nation’s capital into the area bounded by Constitution Ave, Pennsylvania Ave, and 13th and 15th Streets. On the map below, note the central location of Murder Bay, as well as the star indicating the Willard Hotel on the northwest corner and the nearby White House.

During the Civil War, the already seedy red-light district of brothels, gambling dens, and saloons, devolved further. So many prostitutes took up residence in Murder Bay, servicing the needs of General Hooker’s men, the area also became known as Hooker's Division. Some claim this is the reason why prostitutes became known as hookers, but there is proof of the term before General Hooker - an incredible coincidence?

After the Civil War, the area did not improve. In 1888, The Washington Post wrote, “Men were known to go into Murder Bay and were not heard of again until their bodies were discovered in the canal or found buried in ash dumps”.

The area remained a center of crime through the early 20th century, until the 1920s, when Murder Bay was transformed into the massive and beautiful government buildings of Federal Triangle. Since then, the completely rebuilt area has served as a major hub for federal government agencies. This explains why, in 1939, Declan notes a lovely neighborhood surrounding the Willard Hotel, and nothing tawdry like Hooker’s Division. In Girl in the Glass, while Murder Bay may have been covered up, James and Declan learn it’s not entirely gone.