Some time ago I read Diamond Street, about the red light district in Hudson, New York. It's journalistic but may have some relevance, as might William Kennedy's O Albany! Below is the Diamond Street listing from Amazon.com:

Diamond Street: The Story of the Little Town With the Big Red Light District (Paperback) 
by Bruce Edward Hall 

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Hudson, New York, population 8000, is a town whose handsome Colonial and Victorian architecture boasts a grander past. Hudson was first an important port and then a successful industrial city. One of its most lucrative industries was prostitution, and from the 1780s until state police closed down its operations in 1950, Hudson was known far and wide as the place to go for a good time. This work chronicles the history of prostitution in Hudson, along with the social conditions and political corruption that allowed it to flourish. Hall has produced a lively and engaging local history, written in a conspiratorial tone that immediately draws in the reader. His liberal use of anecdotes gleaned from interviews and personal papers and 40 period photographs enliven this tale of sin in a small town. Essential for regional collections and an entertaining addition to social history collections.
Wendy Knickerbocker, Rhode Island Coll. Lib., Providence
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. 


>>> Paul Huey <[log in to unmask]> 6/7/2007 10:04 PM >>>
 
There is an old diary that was in a  box with an old KKK uniform from 1916 
found in a Rensselaer County attic. I am  not certain who wrote the diary, but I 
have a good theory.  It was an old  diary book for 1893, but it must have 
been used at some later date.  The  entries include adolescent, low-class dirty 
jokes and limericks, but much  of the diary is written in a simple code, which 
I was able to  crack.  The writer evidently was a washing machine salesman.  
Writing  and spelling is poor, and some of the entries are somewhat cryptic 
even after  translation.  Here are a few of the entries; the text in large case  
is translated from the code:
 
 
Jan. 3, Tuesday.  
WENT TO CASELTON AND TO ALBANY TO SAND LAKE LULA BROWNELL  TOOK LULA TO 
SUPPER DID NOT STAY LONG IN TOWN WENT TO A SERTEN FRIENDS ALL NIGHT  DID NOT SLEEP 
MUTCH BUT THERE WAS NO TIME TO 
Feb. 8, Wednesday. 
WENT TO TROY AND THERE MET W A  AND IT  WAS HOTER THAN O GINGET TEN TIMES I  
DANCED WITH LULA OR W A 
May 22, Monday. 
went to Albany to see a party a bout washing  machines  Seen the shoew  SAW 
LIBIE TO THE  SHOEW 
May 25, Thursday. 
Went to Albany to Myeres Hotell to shoew the washer he dus not want to  let 
me show it 
There are references to other women by first name in many of the entries,  
written in the code.  Maybe the 1893 diary dates actually were used by the  
writer for some later year.  I am still doing research on this diary and  the KKK, 
and if you have any information on Lula Brownell, W.A., or Libbie, I  would 
be very interested. 
Paul Huey
 
 
In a message dated 6/6/2007 3:46:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Greetings All!
 
I am a filmmaker working on a documentary video project about Mame  Faye, a 
madame who lived in Troy, NY and ran a brothel on Troy's 'line' (red  light 
district) at the turn of the century up until around 1943.  
 
For the project we are interviewing and collecting oral histories from  
people who have stories about times on 'the line' as well as from people who  have 
heard stories as passed down through the generations.   
 
If anyone has any information on written documentation on red light  
districts in and around NYS at the turn of the century or any information on  Troy's 
thriving red light district, or Mame Faye herself, or other Madames  from troy, 
and that time, I would greatly appreciate anything offered! 
 



 



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