From 1895 until the late 1920's, Mrs. Nettie Smith operated a dance hall, bar, and restaurant here, along with several small rental cabins reputed to have been a brothel. For years she was accepted as a businesswoman in the town. She came from a much respected ranching family of Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico, and was a good friend and benefactor of the city's Mexican quarter. She came to Bakersfield in 1875, to Tulare in 1888, where she married Joseph Smith, and then to Porterville in the 1890's. Her brother, Frank de la Mora, had a horse raising and training business in the area. At the time of her death in September 1944 at age 54, the Porterville Recorder ran an extensive and respectful front-page article.