Tuesday, February 14, 2006

This Day That Age

As I walked out of my building this morning, I couldn't resist walking past the bus stop to 2122 N Clark. Its a landscaped parking lot for a senior care nursing home. It's quite cold today though it hasn't been snowing. I remember reading somewhere that it was quite snowy this day in 1929. The building I live in was built in 1905. Someone must have lived or worked here in 1929. Maybe that day she walked past the bus stop to the warehouse to see what was going on. Maybe not. If she was spotted, she might have been shot too. Maybe she was just at home, sleeping in what is now my bedroom when she heard the sound of machine gun fire. Wonder what was going through her head.

If you have taken one of the Untouchables tours in Chicago, you couldn't have missed this parking lot. This is the location of one of the most colorful gangland hits in Chicago's mob history. "Scarface" Capone vs. "Bugs" Moran. Capone's men dressed as cops, entered the warehouse and shot Moran's men. This hit supposedly led to a huge public outcry against Capone though he was never indicted. Capone was actually booked under tax evasion(in 1931) if I am not mistaken!

You can read about the St. Valentine's day massacre here.

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