The history of Al Capone’s operations is incomplete if his activities in the villages of Stickney and Forest View are not explored. The well-worn stories of his illicit activities in Chicago and Cicero have been visited by many authors and historians, yet the Capone hot spots in Stickney and Forest View that made headlines for years have been ignored. The vice dens, raids, arrests, murders of gangsters, arson and courtroom battles connected to the villages kept law enforcement very busy.

Taking a closer look at this era reveals the socio-political environment that allowed criminal activities to take root. During the late 1800s social reformers led a movement to create laws that forbade gambling and horseracing, which stopped horseracing for awhile but fueled a myriad of back-alley wagering alternatives. Anthony Comstock was the secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. The Comstock laws that were named after him prohibited the distribution of anything considered obscene including birth control devices. These laws contributed to the proliferation of pandering and brothels. The greatest failure of the reformers was the 18th Amendment, which established the prohibition of manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States. Bootleggers became millionaires.

Residents of Stickney and Forest View were angered when Al and Ralph Capone brought their trade to town. Many were determined to get rid of them, while others developed tolerance for them. The Capones ran a dirty business but took care of their neighborhoods and the people who lived in them. Cooperation with the Capones was rewarded. A complicated codependent relationship began when residents were hired to assist with manufacturing and storage of liquor and local politicians were paid to look the other way as a revolving door of men visited the village brothels.

Al Capone had many notorious associates who managed operations in the villages. Ralph Capone was in charge of Stickney and Forest View. His primary function was obtaining adequate supplies of liquor to keep all the speakeasies stocked. He also ran a large brewery in Forest View. Procurer Mike De Pike Heitler ran Stickney’s Shadow Inn, while Jake Guzik managed all the other brothels in the villages. Reporters nicknamed Stickney, “the oasis for the thirsty,” due to the number of speakeasies there. After the founder of Forest View was run out of town the Capones took over. The press then nicknamed Forest View “Caponeville.”

Another topic rarely visited and seldom mentioned are the wealthy industrialists who covertly funded the investigation that ended the reign of Al Capone. Buying information, infiltrating operations, wiretapping and countless man-hours spent on surveillance were beyond the budget of law enforcement agencies. The tangled web of the Capone syndicate met defeat with the financial support of the Secret Six.

The multifaceted world of Al Capone now includes another chapter, and this book details events that lay dormant for almost a century. 

Linda M. Malek