Dockland

Dockland is a city in northeastern Illinois, on Lake Michigan. Dockland developed during the 19th century as a major grain market and food-processing center.

Under Al Capone, Dockland was a hot bed of vice. There was illegal drinking, gambling, prostitution. 1920s Dockland PD was the most corrupt police force in history, almost all of them were on Capone's payroll. In the '20s, Dock 39 was where Capone brought all of his enemies and tied cinderblocks to their feed and tossed them in the harbor. It became known as Cadaver's Cove.

Fort Dearborn Massacre
August 15, 1812: American soldiers at Fort Dearborn, led by Captain Heald, offered to pay members of the Potawatomi tribe in weapons, liquor, and money to escort them to Fort Wayne. At the last minute, Heald ordered their surplus goods to be destroyed, going back on their deal. The Potawatomi retaliated by attacking the Americans as they left Fort Dearborn. On this site, 26 Americans, including 12 children, were killed, while another 28 were taken prisoner.

Construction of the Tremont House Hotel
In 1833, the Tremont House Hotel was built.

Arrest of John Stone
In 1840, John Stone was arrested and convicted for rape.

Destruction of the Sands
In 1850, mayor Long John Wentworth lured the residents of the Sands to a fake horse race and then had his men tear all the shacks down. When they got back they started a riot, and someone lit a match. The entire area - roughly the size of a horse track - was flattened into a smoking rubble.

Founding of the Stockyards
Known as "Packing Town" located in a large stretch of land on the South side, the Stockyards were founded in 1863.

Construction of the Headquarter Building
The Headquarter building was constructed in 1865.

Construction of the Dockland Water Tower
The Dockland Water Tower was built in 1869, and was one of the few buildings in the city to survive the Great Dockland Fire of 1871.

Great Dockland Fire of 1871
The Great Fire of 1871 consumed most of Dockland, including City Hall. The Raven Building became the temporary home of the municipal government while Dockland was rebuilt.

Downtown Loop Founding
The Downtown Loop is founded in 1882.

Haymarket Square Riot
In 1886, a protest by workers demanding better wages erupted into a tragedy when an unknown person threw a bomb at the police. This sparked a shootout, resulting in the deaths of 8 police officers and an unknown number of protesters. Four men were convicted of murdering the officers and were executed. However, it was never proven any of them had thrown the bomb.

Construction of the Bloody Maxwell Police Station
Built in 1888 as an architectural fortress, the 7th District Police Station was deep in the heart of the Terror District where the criminal element festered.

Construction of the Lexington Hotel
The Lexington Hotel was built in 1892 as a standard Luxury hotel, when Capon and his gang moved in they gave the Lex a shooting gallery, a vault and secret passageways leading to taverns and brothels.

Construction of the Harbor Lighthouse
Harbor Lighthouse has been a beacon to passing ships and teenagers looking for a place to make out since it was built in 1893.

Murder Castle
The 1893 World's Fair was the perfect bait for Dr. Henry Howard Holmes (aka Herman Mudgett) to lure his estimated 200+ victims to his front door. Holmes built the 60 room, 3-story building with secret passageways, trap doors and chutes. Holmes advertised for tourists and staff. These unwary visitors and employees checked in and never left.

Assassination of Carter Harrison Sr.
October 1893: The very troubled Patrick Prendergast went to the home of Dockland Mayor Carter Harrison Sr., and shot the mayor three times before escaping. Shortly after, he turned himself in to police at the Desplaines station.

Execution of Patrick Prendergast
Prendergast's motive was a meandering tale. His lawyer attempted to have him declared insane but the attempts failed. Prendergast was executed by hanging in 1894.

Destruction of the Murder Castle
The Murder Castle burned down in 1895.

Execution of Henry Howard Holmes
Holmes was convicted and executed in 1896.

Construction of the Abraham Lincoln Statue
It took 12 years for sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create the Abraham Lincoln Statue.

Construction of the Dockland Arts & Sciences Center
In 1897, the Dockland Arts & Sciences Center was made.

Sausage Vat Murder
1897: Adolph Luetgart made his successful sausage factory the scene of his crime when he murdered his wife, Louisa. Investigators found a skull and a gold ring with the initials, L.L., in a factory vat. Though officially charged with burning his wife, rumors persisted that she had been ground into sausage. This caused sausage sales to decline and ultimately put the factory out of business.

Construction of May Stadium
May Stadium was built in 1901.

Big Jim Colosimo's Rule
Big Jim controlled the South Side's hundreds of gambling saloons, opium dens and brothels from 1902 to 1920.

Battle of John A. Walsh Public School
In a final bloody battle on December, 1905,, scores of kids on either side faced off. When police finally intervened the area was strewn with casualties. The number of fatalities was never recorded.

Construction of the Cree Theater
The Cree Theater was built in 1910, making it one of the oldest venues in the city.

Shotgun Man
Between 1910 and 1911, an unidentified man, referred to as "Shotgun Man" gunned down 15 Italian immigrants. Believed to be an assassin working for the Black Hand extortionist gangs, Shotgun Man murdered those who refused to pay up. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

Eastland Disaster
July 24th, 1915: The Western Electric Company chartered a steamer, the Eastland, to take their employees and families to a picnic in Michigan. Recent regulations had the steamer retrofitted with lifeboats. Unfortunately this extra weight made the Eastland top heavy. Not 20ft from shore and only fifteen minutes into the trip, the steamer rolled over and sank. 841 passengers and 4 crew members drowned.

Dockland World News Contest
Dockland World News ran a contest in 1919, offering cash to anyone who could create the best design for their new headquarters.

Construction of the Crowley Building
When construction began in 1920, the Crowley Building was the first major office building north of the Dockland River.

Genna Brothers vs. North Side Gang
In the 1920s, the Bootlegging Factory was the central location for production and distribution of bootleg alcohol run by the savage crime family known as the Genna brothers. Competing against the North Side Gang for the liquor trade, a gang war erupted.

Opening of the Ambrose Theatre
The Ambrose Theatre opened October 26, 1921, and is faithfully designed in the French Baroque style that is meticulously maintained to this day.

Taking of Four Deuces
Four Deuces was taken over by mob boss Johnny Torrio and Al Capone in 1922.

Stockyards Progression
The Stockyards grew to 130 miles of track producing 80% of the meat consumed in the U.S. by 1923.

Assassination of Dean O'Banion
It was just such an occasion when gunmen walked in to O'Banion's Flower Shop. Six direct shots dropped O'Banion in a heartbeat. O'Banion's funeral had one of the largest turnouts of any in Dockland's history with flowers from his shop.

Hit on Johnny Torrio
In 1925, George "Bugs" Moran and Hymie Weiss targeted Johnny Torrio after their mob boss, Dean O'Banion, was gunned down in his flower shop. In revenge, Moran and Weiss pulled up behind Torrio and his wife as they were about to enter their home. Blasted with shotgun fire in his gut, chest and face, Torrio remarkably managed to survive. Immediately afterward, Torrio signed over all of his control to Al Capone. He retired to Italy.

End of the Genna Brothers
In 1925, three of the Genna brothers were gunned down in separate gunfights against the North Siders and police. The other brothers subsequently fled Dockland. No one really knows how many brothers there were in total.

Kidnapping of Fats Waller
January 17th, 1926: Al Capone's men decide to give their boss a birthday present. The gang kidnapped jazz musician Fats Waller and brought him to play for Capone's birthday party. Waller played for three days straight with a gun to his head. Waller later said he was paid "really well."

Revelation of the Abraham Lincoln Statue
The Abraham Lincoln Statue was finally revealed in 1926.

Cadaver's Cove
"'This isn't personal. I'm a businessman, and the Feds, well, they're bad for business.'"October 17, 1927: Shipping harbor Dock 39 was where Capone brought all of his enemies and tied cinderblocks to their feet and tossed them in the harbor. It became known as Cadaver's Cove.

Lombardo Murder
September 7, 1928, thirty-six year old Antonio Lombardo and his bodyguards were confronted by two well dressed men carrying guns. Lombardo started running across Madison but didn't make it far. Gunned down in broad daylight. He hit the pavement face down in front of the office crowd. Lombardo was a trusted advisor, and third man, to Al Capone. It's believed that Bugs Moran leader of the North Side Gang had issued the hit on Lombardo knowing this would be a blow to Capone. As with so many of these mob its, the real gunmen were never apprehended.

Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
George "Bugs" Moran headquartered his North Side Gang in a garage. Capone had considered the Moran gang a thorn in his side for years. But Capone was out of town when five gangsters disguised as police entered the garage and lined the North Side Gang against the wall. The seven men were found with over 100 bullets riddled through their bodies.

Bugs Moran wasn't in the garage when someone gave the signal to machine-gun the North Side Gang members against the brick wall. While Moran was grateful that the shooters had mistaken small time racketeer, Albert Weinshank, for Moran, poor Albert would've have seen it that way.

Founding of the Secret Six
It took the shooting of a business contractor in 1930 here to set Dockland's influential businessmen after Capone.

Hit on Aiello
Capone finally ordered a hit on Aiello in October 1930.

Arrest of Al Capone
October 24, 1931: The Lexington Hotel was Capone's last stop before he was arrested in 1931 for tax evasion.

Opening of Meadowmoore Dairies
Meadowmoore dairies was opened in 1932 by Al Capone three months before he was incarcerated.

Founding of Saint Jude Police League
In 1932, the Dockland Police Department founded the Saint Jude Police League.

Surgery of John Dillinger
In 1933 Dr. Harold Cassidy and Dr. Wilhelm Loeser resided at the Commonwealth, and were gracious enough to perform plastic surgery on Dillinger in their rooms.

Robbery of the Seventh Federal Bank
One day in September 1933, bank robber Alvin Karpis used machine-guns and smoke bombs to rob the bank. With five sacks loaded in the car, Karpis made his getaway right into a head-on collision. When an officer stopped to investigate the accident, Karpis gunned the officer down and stole a car. The escape took Karpis to a south side hideout where he discovered the sacks were full of mail.

Assassination of John Dillinger
In 1934 Public Enemy Number #1, John Dillinger, was gunned down by federal officers

Construction of the Pawnee Dam
The Pawnee Dam was built in 1936 in an effort to push back the Pawnee River and facilitate development in this outskirt of Dockland.

Lipstick Killer - Ross
A summer day 1945, police knew when they arrived that this wasn't any ordinary burglary gone wrong. Josephine Ross had been repeatedly stabbed, the killer then bathed her and taped her wounds with surgical tape. Her head was wrapped in a dress. Strands of black hair were found clutched in her hand as she had desperately attempted to fend off her attacker. No one was ever convicted of her death.

Lipstick Killer - Brown
Winter 1945. Inside a small brownstone walk-up with old world charm, Frances Brown was found shot and brutally stabbed - the knife still in her neck, left naked in the bathtub. Her wounds washed and taped and her nightgown was wrapped around her head. Some criminal experts believe that these are the early killings of the later famous Los Halos murder known as Black Dahlia.

Lipstick Killer - Degnan
January 1946, 6-year old Suzanne Degnan was found dismembered and scattered throughout the local sewers. Various witnesses mentioned seeing a man between 35-40 years of age, but to get a quick arrest, police honed in on 17 year old petty burglar, William George Heirens. Though he confessed, Heirens later claimed it was because of police brutality.

Privacy of the Crowley Building
In 1947, the Crowley Building became privately owned, and the government left no trace of their work behind.

Birth of the Dockland South Club
According to his autobiography, Henry "Mick" O'Brien met at a parking garage with other Irish "businessmen" in 1951. They decided to pool their resources and reclaim power and territory from the fledgling Dockland Outfit. In honor of the North Side Gang, whose reign ended with the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, these individuals quickly named themselves the Dockland South Club.

Lakeshore Water Refinery Incident
in 1954, a Lakeshore Water Refinery employee on the graveyard shift fell into one of the refinery's reservoirs, and drowned.

Abandoned Station Shootout
The Abandoned Station was the infamous setting of a blood-soaked shootout between the Dockland South Club and law enforcement on September 3rd, 1955. Three police officers were brutally gunned down on the station's platform, while five Club members escaped unharmed. This shootout became so romanticized, it inspired copycat murders in and around the unfinished station. As a result, work was soon abandoned.

Assassination of Commissioner Sallik
In 1958, young Commissioner J. Sallik was closing in on a union scam with the Dockland South Club when he was gunned down just outside the Raven Building. No one has ever been charged with the crime.

Arrival of Lloyd Pinkerton
Pinkerton arrived in Dockland in 1960 and quickly became involved in the betterment of the Wards.

Marina Murders
Between 1960 and 1966, police found nearly a dozen bodies near the marina, with evidence indicating they were unsuccessfully weighed down. Although no charges were ever officially made, these deaths were all believed to be the work of the Dockland South Club.

Assassination of Lloyd Pinkerton
Growing racial tensions led to Pinkerton's murder in 1966 ad transformed the Vulpines from community organizers into a violent gang.

Establishment of Hardbrook Yard
In 1967, Hardbrook Yard established in the Loop.

Battaglia Case
In 1967, when an informant crucial to the conviction of Sam "Teets" Battaglia was kept under wraps in room 205 of the Owl Motel. For the time of Battaglia's trial, the informant, Joseph Joyce, had to be moved repeatedly to escape being murdered by Battaglia's men. The Owl Motel was Joyce's last relocation before he took the stand, putting away Battaglia for good.

WKZ-TV Center Mishap
In 1967, a radio tower on the roof of the WKZ-TV Center picked up a unique coded transmission thought to be a message from the Russians. It was later revealed to be a hoax created by a group of college students.

V Alley Massacre
February 1971: the Vulpines had spent the last year in a turf war with an upstart gang known as P.D.C. - gang violence came to a head in this alley, when 5 unnamed Vulpines ambushed and killed 15 key members of P.D.C. The massacre was covered by every major newspaper in the state, and brought the Vulpines legitimacy and power, while the remaining members P.D.C. went into hiding or joined the V's.

Completion of Aon Center
In 1974, the Aon Center was completed.

Illinois Draught of 1981
The Pawnee Dam was a success until the Illinois drought of 1981 caused the Pawnee River to dry up.

The Stone Cold Killer
The Sienna Brick Factory was famous for being featured in the 1985 horror classic The Stone Cold Killer.

Pawnee Murder House
In August 1988, Pawnee police arrested homeowner Candy Amos for the murder of her husband, then-mayor Sandford Amos. Mayor Amos, who was openly abusive towards his wife and had recently been indicted on charges of corruption, was not mourned upon his death. Although Candy Amos would die in prison one year later, she quickly became a local legend, a symbol of female empowerment and revolution.

Domingo Mendez' Performance
In 1989, legendary funnyman Domingo Mendez performed for eight straight hours at the Phoebus Theater, using only a toothbrush as a prop for over 200 sketches and bits. The audience was both impressed and tired.

Restoration of the Cree Theater
The Cree Theater was restored in 1990 after being acquired by the city's heritage department, who reupholstered everything.

Opening of the Botanical Gardens
In 1992, the Botanical Gardens opened.

Death of William George Heirens
Heirens died in prison on March 5th, 2012.

Map


Districts

 * Parker Square
 * The Loop
 * Brandon Docks
 * The Wards
 * Mad Mile
 * Pawnee

Parker Square

 * Battery Heights
 * High Grove
 * Hill Park (Tower)
 * Park Hill
 * Pequino Village (Tower)
 * Piper Village

The Loop

 * Beckham Tower
 * Riverside (Tower)
 * Soto Point
 * South Side Campus (Tower)
 * Theatre Square (Tower)
 * West Island

Brandon Docks

 * Barrows
 * Calumet Market (Tower)
 * Des Monts Canal (Tower)
 * Lake Shore (Tower)
 * Racine Canal
 * Ridgeside

The Wards

 * Rossi-Fremont (Tower)
 * Woodpark West (Tower)

Mad Mile

 * East
 * Franklin (Tower)
 * Gold Coast (Tower)
 * Oldtown
 * River East (Tower)
 * Station Point
 * Uptown

Parker Square

 * Botanical Gardens
 * Brewed Delight
 * Farris Halstead Library
 * May Stadium
 * Sway San Pub
 * Owl Motel
 * Parker Square Marina
 * Paytner Hage Elementary School
 * Phoebus Theater
 * Piper Gate
 * Quinkie's
 * Saint Joseph Cemetery

The Loop

 * Abraham Lincoln Statue
 * Ambrose Theatre
 * Aon Center
 * Bloody Maxwell Police Station
 * Bootlegging Factory
 * Bram Steffan Pavilion
 * Brewed Delight
 * Carding Center
 * Cree Theater
 * Desplaines Street Police Station
 * Dockland Arts & Sciences Center
 * Dockland City Hall
 * Dockland Commerce Building
 * Dockland Mall
 * Dockland Marina
 * Face Fountain
 * Forever Sculpture
 * Gorman Heights
 * Harbor Lighthouse
 * Hardbrook Yard
 * Infinite 92
 * Jewelers' Building
 * Last Penny Pawn
 * Lexington Hotel
 * Meadowmoore Dairies
 * Miller's Rail Bar
 * Ocean Tower
 * Palin Correctional Center
 * Public Building (built 1920)
 * Quinkie's
 * Randolph Street Subway Terminal
 * Raven Building
 * Saffard Memorial Fountain
 * Seventh Federal Bank
 * South Tech University
 * Tremont House Hotel
 * Vault Tower
 * Walker & South Clothing Dockland
 * Willis Tower
 * Connelly Square
 * WKZ-TV Center

Brandon Docks

 * Brewed Delight
 * Cermak Bridge
 * Dockland Yacht Club
 * Four Deuces
 * Lakeshore Water Refinery
 * Quinkie's
 * Racine Boat Restoration
 * Sienna Brick Factory
 * Windy City Shipyards

The Wards

 * Aiello's Bakery
 * Big Jim Colosimo's Café
 * Brewed Delight
 * Burned Down Factory
 * Deadman's Corner
 * Hawthorne Hotel
 * John A. Walsh Public School
 * Lloyd Pinkerton's Home
 * Murder Castle
 * Murder Market
 * Quinkie's
 * Rossi-Fremont
 * Stockyards
 * V Alley

Mad Mile

 * Brewed Delight
 * Commonwealth Hotel
 * Crowley Building
 * Dockland Water Tower
 * Dockland World News Tower
 * Hanson Park
 * H. Riggio Prestige Motors
 * JD Trumbet's
 * John Hancock Center
 * Merlaut Hotel
 * Navy Pier Building
 * O'Banion's Flower Shop
 * Quid Pro Quo Guns
 * Quinkie's
 * Saga Theater
 * Samuel Morton's Home
 * Sands
 * Second Regiment Armory
 * Sheridan Wave Club
 * Triomphe Tower
 * Walker & South Clothing Dockland
 * WKZ-TV Mad Mile

Pawnee

 * Abandoned Station
 * Bernai Island
 * Bridge Construction
 * Crazy Moose Inn
 * Dockland Bloom Headquarters
 * Jedediah's Bar
 * Pawnee Arrowhead Arsenal
 * Pawnee Beach
 * Pawnee Dam
 * Pawnee Junkyard
 * Pawnee Mill
 * Pawnee Motel & Lodge
 * Pawnee Murder House
 * Pawnee Repairs Service
 * Pawnee Tackle Shop
 * Pawnee Trailer Park
 * Vyvyn K. Turner Bridge

Businesses

 * Bookstore
 * Brew Pour Sip Coffee
 * Café Baroque
 * Callie's Friendly Family Dining Restaurant
 * Chenny's Noodles
 * Cocktails
 * Convenience Store
 * Cortland Computer Store
 * Department Store
 * Dockland Electronics
 * Fresh Table Dining
 * Ground Beneath Your Feet Woman Shoe Store
 * Gym Center
 * Ladies Cosmetics
 * Kofee Cofi Fair Trade Certified Organic
 * Landsing Telecom Telecommunications Services
 * Long Nile Ethiopian Cuisine
 * Mama Reyn
 * Marilie's Garden Flower Store
 * Mexican Food
 * Molar's Grill
 * Monsieur Michel Quality Menswear
 * Oxylum Incorporated
 * Pleasant Stay Hotels
 * Please Rewind Video
 * Public Furniture Credit Electronic Appliances
 * Rendezvous
 * Resonance Jewelry
 * Salvatore's Italy
 * Steak House
 * Strudel Pastries Bakery
 * Threads n' Duds Vintage
 * Tidis Corporation
 * Tristan Moorhen Chic Restaurant
 * Umeni Technologies Incorporated
 * Vessal Mart
 * Vibrant Leaves Floral Arrangements
 * White Oak Bough

Parker Square

 * Husker
 * Keele
 * Paulson

The Loop

 * Adams/Wabash
 * Clark/Lake
 * Clinton
 * Farris Halstead Library
 * Hollenkamp
 * Lasalle
 * Madison/Wabash
 * Quincy
 * Washington/Wells
 * Western

Brandon Docks

 * Parkfield
 * Rhodes

The Wards

 * Corland
 * Malinski
 * Sellers Grove

Mad Mile

 * Deavers
 * Noakes
 * Olivia
 * Ryborn
 * Taylor

Education

 * John A. Walsh Public School
 * Paytner Hage Elementary School
 * South Tech University
 * University of Dockland

Healthcare

 * Dockland General Hospital
 * JP Plains

Media

 * Dockland Chronicle
 * Dockland Constitution

Eliot Ness
"'The Bureau of Investigation will never stop fighting, not until the fight is done.'"Ness was the one to take Capone down. Ness and his team obtained Capone's ledger from his bookkeeper. The IRS's case against Capone for tax evasion was completely dependent on that ledger, at his primary speakeasy, the Chelsea Club. Capone had a stake in the club, and furthermore, he hid a sizeable amount of Canadian whiskey in there, in violation of the Volstead Act.

Trivia

 * Dockland parodies Chicago.
 * The word "Dockland" means the area containing a city's docks.