Anna Wilson

Anna Wilson (May 27, 1835 – October 27, 1911) was a pioneer madam in Omaha, Nebraska. When she died she bequeathed her life savings to the City of Omaha, along with her 25-room mansion brothel, which was used as a hospital. Wilson was responsible for "establishing Omaha's first serious comfort station", and was known as the "Queen of the Underworld."

Biography Little is known about Wilson's early life. Unsubstantiated rumors circulated around Omaha that she was born into an aristocratic Southern family. Wilson and her long-time partner, Dan Allen, were together in 1870, when famous Lincoln prostitute Josie Washburn worked for her. Wilson reportedly assumed the role of a parent if one of the prostitutes that worked for her got married, including paying the wedding expenses.

After Allen died Wilson started investing in real estate. She amassed a large amount of money, and according to one account, half her fortune was made in the last ten years of her life from the purchase and sale of real estate. Anna, who was 76 years old when she died, was said to be worth upwards of a million dollars, and claimed she didn't have one relative in the world.

Wilson is buried in Omaha's Prospect Hill Cemetery next to Dan Allen. In her will, Wilson made a clause that she should be buried under nine feet of concrete, so that the "respectable" society women of the town didn't disinter her body from her resting place by Allen and move it out of Prospect Hill. An immense polished stone in the dimensions of a king-size bed with four posts rests over the double graves of Wilson and Allen.

The Prospect Hill Preservation Society celebrates an annual Memorial Day event. In 1997 they honoured Wilson. The Durham Western Heritage Museum also offers tours related to the story of Anna Wilson, along with other notorious characters from the "Gritty City".

A neighborhood bar & restaurant, named "Wilson & Washburn" in an historic building at 1407 Harney, was opened in 2013. The business is named after Anna Wilson and her former employee, Josie Washburn.

A speakeasy type of bar called "Anna's Place" located downtown in Hotel Indigo is named after her.