Nina Clifford

Early life Clifford was born Johanna Crow (also known as "Hannah") on August 3, 1851, in Chatham, Canada West to Irish or German immigrant parents. Her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, while she was a child. Clifford's was one of St. Paul's most upscale brothels. Its interior was appointed with plush furnishing and marble fireplaces. The club renamed its billiard room after Clifford. Chandelier from Nina Clifford's brothel, later moved to the St. Paul mayor's office

The brothel's foundations were discovered during excavations for the Science Museum of Minnesota in 1998. A group of archaeologists from the 106 Group unearthed many artifacts. From these they concluded that, although the prostitutes earned nine or ten times the average women's earnings at the time, conditions were unsanitary and harsh.

Clifford was memorialized in the 1980s with a play, and then a musical, titled Nina! Madam to a Saintly City.