Al Capone's Chicago: The Neighborhoods He Ruled — And What's Left of Them Today

On July 30, 1928, a hotel clerk on South Michigan Avenue signed Al Capone into room 230 under a false name: George Phillips. From that hotel, the Lexington, Capone ran his organization until the day he went to prison. Today a 35-story apartment tower stands on the site. This is a documentary history of Capone's Chicago, address by address: the places, the victims, and the tax case that ended his run. We go from South Wabash Avenue and Little Italy to Cicero, North State Street, the Lexington, North Clark Street and the Federal Building, and show what stands at each one now. Most of Chicago's Italian families never worked for the Outfit, and they paid for its reputation for generations. If your family has a story from any of these neighborhoods, share it in the comments. Chapters 0:00 Room 230 1:57 The map 2:59 Stop one: South Wabash Avenue, 1910–1925 8:21 A detour: Little Italy, 1921–1928 10:33 Stop two: Prairie Avenue, 1923 11:50 Stop three: Cicero, 1924–1926 16:37 Stop four: North State Street, 1924–1926 18:25 Stop five: South Michigan Avenue, 1925–1931 23:14 Stop six: North Clark Street, 1929 26:28 Stop seven: The Federal Building, 1930–1931 31:51 What's left 33:12 Back to the corner Sources include: Frank J. Wilson, Summary Report on Alphonse Capone, U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue (1933); FBI Famous Cases: Al Capone; National Archives, U.S. v. Klenha, Capone et al.; Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Maps of Chicago (Library of Congress); Encyclopedia of Chicago; period Chicago newspapers (1920s). Archive images are public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the Newberry Library. Scenes marked ILLUSTRATION are digitally created reconstructions of the period, not historical photographs. Narration is AI-generated. Some of these addresses are private homes today. Please respect the residents. #Chicago #AlCapone #ChicagoHistory #Prohibition #TrueHistory