The Sixth Ward, also known as the Whiskey Ward, for the abundance of saloons it held, was located in Lower Manhattan. Due to the poverty and squalor of the tenements in which the people lived, the saloon became the focal point of social activity for 19th century New Yorkers. The saloon keepers of the Sixth Ward were predominately Irish, and many enjoyed great prominence within their communities.

They were respected as leaders in their communities, had ties to political parties, aided in finding jobs for immigrants, lent money to their patrons, and were deferred to in many areas of decisions-making within their neighborhoods. The Sixth Ward also encompassed the Infamous Five Points neighborhood, home of the notorious Irish gangs such as the Dead Rabbits, the Bowery Bhoys, the Forty Thieves, and the Plug Uglies. It was the scene of frequent battles between these rival gangs, who were split along Protestant and Catholic lines; because of them it also received the nickname, the Bloody Ould Sixth Ward. As the turn of the century approached, the Irish immigrants population was slowly overtaken by new waves of immigrants, Italians, Germans, Jewish and African Americans, which made it virtually America's original melting pot.