1930 - Madison, WI
Gangster Roger "The Terrible" Touhy funded a bar in Madison that his brother, Eddie, would run. Roger was a rival of Al Capone, running bootlegging and gambling operations in Chicago.
As was often the case in gangster established roadhouses at the time, it was in a secluded area on the outskirts of town near a highway.
A hideaway to launder illicit earnings, and to serve as a point to bring illegal liquor into Wisconsin during prohibition.
Eddie's Wonder Bar, a brick building built to look like a castle, complete with turrets. The booths inside were aligned so no one had their back to the door.
There was a tunnel that ran toward Lake Monona that was used to smuggle liquor and help flee from the law, and
a garage where they would disguise & repair cars and change license plates.
With visitors like John Dillinger, Capone, Baby Face Nelson and other gangsters, it was often under surveillance by the FBI.
It had removable sections in the turrets through which the mobsters could poke their guns. The gangsters would come here from Chicago to hide out and let things cool off.
Eddie's Wonder Bar - 222 E. Olin Ave.
Roger "The Terrible" Touhy -
Roger Touhy - Wikipedia
Eddie Touhy
The Stolen Years - Book by Roger Touhy - The true story of Roger Touhy, a beer manufacturer during Prohibition, who was wrongly convicted of a 1933 kidnapping.
