Timothy Gilfoyle called them 'the first nightclubs'. Prices were high and they were patronized by an upscale audience. Practically all gambling was illegal in the city (except upscale horseracing tracks), and regular payoffs to political and police leadership was necessary. They tolerated unlicensed liquor, commercial sex, and gambling cards, chiefly Faro. They enjoyed a national reputation for vaudeville, live music, and dance. The first nightclubs appeared in New York City in the 1840s and 1850s, including McGlory's and the Haymarket. Prostitutes served a wide variety of clientele, from sailors on leave to playboys. Stars such as Edwin Booth and Lillian Russell were among the early Broadway performers.
New York's theater district gradually moved northward during this half century, from The Bowery up Broadway through Union Square and Madison Square, settling around Times Square at the end of the 19th century. Grand hotels were built for the upscale visitors.
In the United States, New York increasingly became the national capital for tourism and entertainment. 'The Cave' in the basement of the Gruenwald (later Roosevelt) Hotel, New Orleans opened in 1912 said by some to be one of the first nightclubs in the United States
