Valentine’s Day is coming up. In Chicago, that means another anniversary of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: On Feb. 14, 1929, Al Capone’s men gunned down seven rival gang members in Lincoln Park. The bloodshed quickly earned its eerie, distinct moniker, forever tainting Chicago as an apparent crime capital and catapulting Capone to infamy.
Then again … some experts question whether Capone even took out the hit. He was hiding out in Miami at the time. If you look a little further, it turns out lots of local Capone lore is straight-up bull. That was the focus of “Debunking Grandma’s Al Capone Stories,” a recent lecture by Chicago for Chicagoans at Bad Apple in Lincoln Park. Historian and tour guide Adam Selzer shared his knowledge.
Just chilling in Capone’s ALLEGED booth. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
🙄 Probably Fake: The Green Mill
It’s a beloved Chicago factoid that Capone liked to hang at the Green Mill, keeping an eye on both exits. But the story really started with a barfly in the ‘80s. And that big ol’ booth Capone supposedly loved? Renovations took place in the ‘40s and again in the ‘80s … you do the math. Then again, it still feels like the roaring ‘20s in there, and that should count for something.
👍 Probably Real: The Pony Inn
While it wasn’t smart for Capone to spend much time in clubs, he controlled the Pony Inn, as it was near his Cicero headquarters. An assistant state's attorney was gunned down there in 1926. Today, it’s Sarno’s, a restaurant where you can video-gamble. (Capone would love that.)
🤣 Probably Fake: Scurrying through Tunnels
Another part of the Green Mill legend is that Capone used a trap door in the bar, leading to tunnels, to escape raids. But according to Selzer: “If there was a liquor raid in one of his places, he probably had the raiders on payroll already.” Sorry, Geraldo!
👍 Probably Real: Present-Day Giordano’s
Capone’s brother Ralph testified that the pair lived in an apartment on Farwell and Sheridan when they moved to Chicago in 1921 … aka the present-day Giordano’s. Many gangsters lived in the Rogers Park area, Selzer said. (Later, Capone’s family lived in Greater Grand Crossing at 7244 S. Prairie Ave.)
🤷🏼♀️ Kinda Fake, Kinda Real: The Congress Hotel
A call was placed to Capone from the Congress Hotel about the St. Valentine's Day massacre, and he had previously held meetings there. However, Capone never stayed or lived at the Congress, which means the ghostly presence I felt on the eighth floor was someone else … Capone spent more time at the Lexington Hotel, which today is The LEX.
Other confirmed Capone locales include Marshall Field’s, where he bought silk shirts; a bank at 2218 S. Wabash Ave., where he kept his real vault; and the Burnham golf course, where he accidentally shot himself. Not super glamorous, but hey, Capone wasn’t actually the clubby man about town he’s remembered as. Rather, he was a master at publicity. Maybe that’s why Chicagoans are still spinning stories of Al Capone.
