Ep 182: The May Rooms

Step back into the high-stakes, wildcatting days of early Tulsa, where oil, money, and vice built a boomtown overnight. This week, Jess dives into the history of The May Rooms, Tulsa’s longest-running and most infamous brothel. Operating on the upper floors of the 1918 Jacobs Building (310 E. First St.), the enterprise survived over four decades of vice raids, Prohibition front-shops, and strict 17-minute time limits—all under the watchful eye of its formidable madam, Pauline Lambert.

We cover the jaw-dropping lore of the 1970s armed robber who complained to Channel 8 news when the brothel called the cops on him, the 87-year-old sting operation that finally brought down the house, and how this secretive second-story labyrinth froze in time until its modern revival in the Blue Dome District. Plus, stick around for the spooks: phantom footsteps, the legend of "Aspirin Annie," and the ghostly encounters Jess experienced firsthand on a Tulsa haunted pub crawl!

So snuggle in! It’s the start of spooky season, and this tale, will leave you ready to go physically (or spectrally) visit some of these iconic locations!

Sources:

• Haunted Oklahoma Brothels and Saloons by Brooke Montoya

• Tulsa TV Memories

• KTUL

• Tulsa World

• Tulsa World - Pauline Lambert

• Newspapers.com

• Find A Grave