For this week's installment of #TBT, we focus on some of the obscure, shady, and downright criminal goings-on of the San Francisco yesteryear.

The Barbary Coast, for instance, was full of vice. Bootlegging and gambling were commonplace in speakeasies during Prohibition, and a slew of shocking crimes—before and since—have made spines tingle all across America.

The Madam Who Became Mayor

via BAGHDAD BY THE BAY

From 1940 to 1949, Sally Stanford was the top madam in the city, running a bordello at 1144 Pine Street. Later, Stanford became a restaurateur, opening the Valhalla in Sausalito. At the age of 72, she was elected Sausalito's mayor.