James “Big Jim” Harris

In the 1940's, James “Big Jim”Harris opened the Stork Club at 613 Monmouth St in Newport, KY. Harris was the sheriff of Wilder, KY and also ran the Hi-De-Ho Club and brothel on Licking Pike, near Bobby Mackey's. He was notorious for wire tapping the rooms and voice recording the male customers who were engaged with the prostitutes and later blackmailing them by promising to destroy the tape for a "small fee" of about five thousand dollars. If they refused to pay, Harris would release the tape to their wives. But Harris took too much business away from the Cleveland Syndicate and, as a result, he was eventually arrested and jailed for prostitution after the Newport police received an "anonymous" tip. His Stork Club came under new ownership and was renamed The Silver Slipper in 1959 . From 1961-63 the club was renamed Frolic and featured a burlesque stage show and illegal gambling and brothel in back. In 1966 it came under the ownership of Larry Flynt again and was renamed the Galaxie Club, which was mainly a strip joint and a peep show. But it 1970 the club was nearly destroyed by fire, and arson was suspected. It finally reopened in 1976 under the new name The Brass Ass/Mule.p clubs in Newport to this day. Want to learn more about the "sin city" days of Newport? Then take our Newport "Sin City" Mobster tour! The tour operates 7 days a week, 3 times a day.

from a facebook post by Chris Code, who leads Mobster Tours of Newport.