Tonight my husband was telling me about a joke someone told him at work today. The joke was something this man heard when he was a young boy riding in the car with two older men. As they passed a house located directly across from the Rome Fair Grounds the men began talking about the house and a sign that was once posted on the door to the "establishment". The joke was not what interested me but the history of the house immediately caught my full attention. The house was a bothel run by a woman named Peggy Stone Sneed from what little I was able to find out online. It was well known not only locally but is said to have been known worldwide. Supposedly the house was in business for 40+ years and was very successful.
Peggy was not only a beauty but a shrewd business woman who attained a lot of wealth from her business. It is said that she ran a clean, safe house and guaranteed the health of her girls. Law enforcement supposedly knew all about Peggy's and looked the other way. I even found a copy of an add for Peggy's in an annual from Georgia Tech from the 1960's (i think 1964). I found all of my information at Peggy's House.
I am always curious about old stories from the past and the way things were in a different time than the one we were born into. I would love to see a photo of Peggy and hear more stories about her. If anyone has any information or photos on this subject I would be very interested in hearing them. I am working on a lead to find more information and intend to pursue this matter further.
I loved this story. I grew up in Rome, Georgia and I think everyone in town knew about the place. Her pink hair, pink poodle and cadillac convertable were not conversation pieces but everyone always stared at her. I had the privilege of meeting one of her girls in my mom's beauty shop in North Rome. She arrived in a taxi to have her platinum blond hair touched-up. She always came on Friday and she tipped very well. I earned my spending money all summer just by getting her lunch. Most of the time, she ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with a dill pickle but once I went to Troy's Bar-B-Que for a bar-b-que sandwich and potato chips that she wanted.. We kept bottle cokes in a cooler. After I grew older and remembered her, I knew as well that she was a lonely woman. She had a boyfriend that was married. He would come by to see her every time she was there and ask her for money. As soon as he received it, he would kiss her on the cheek and then be gone. I never knew what happened to her but later, the boyfriend was picked up in a raid of a bootleg liquor still on the Old Dalton Road. I still remember reading about it and one of the men gave his name as Bobby Pin. RH
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