The 2200 Wabash block was in the heart of Chicago's South side Levee. Gamblers and roughnecks would drink, gamble and whore away their hard earned wages for moments of fleeting pleasure. Many establishments could be found in this immediate area, but none would become as infamous as the Four Deuces.In the mid 1920's Al Capone was sent to work for John Torrio in Chicago via New York's Frank Yale.Capone was on the lam from New York for murder. Torrio employed Capone as a personal bodyguard before promoting him to manager of the Four Deuces.

The building was named The Four Deuces because of its address: 2222 South Wabash.The building had a massive arched door and inside,cigarette and cigar smoke clung to the ceiling.The first floor of the building held an antique shop,the second floor was the speakeasy,the third floor was where ladies of the evening “entertained” Capone’s guests and the top floor served as the gangster’s headquarters where he conducted important business of the day. Capone was a good host,quick with a joke,flashing smile and the people enjoyed his company.Capone also had a furniture shop in the building as a front.He placed tables,chairs ,a goldfish bowl, a glass showcase filled with tooled leather novelties,a square piano,three golden oak tables,a fernery,a rocking chair,a few small rugs, a shelf of books and in an unused corner of the shop he had a bible.He also had printed cards sayin”Alphonse Capone,Second Hand Furniture Dealer,2222 S.Wabash Av.”

Prostitution,gambling and drinking were the main sports to be found and there was also talk about a trap door and basement where rival gangsters and non payers were treated to death or near death experiences.The basement was used to torture men with information valuable to the Torrio-Capone force.Also rumours are that at least a dozen gangsters had been slaughtered in the Four Deuces.Rival gangs were brought to the place and got punished.Capone and other goons would drag these men into the basement of the saloon and there question them while applying various tortures. When the victims had provided the information or confessions demanded, they were summarily murdered.Capone strangled at least a dozen of these disobedient racketeers to death with his hands, according to one account. The bodies were dragged through a small tunnel and brought up at the rear of the building through a trapdoor and then into an alley, where a waiting car sped away with the corpses, which were later dumped on lonely country roads.Mike Heitler,a small time pimp and one of Al’s rival’s once said:"They snatch guys they want information from.They're tortured until they talk. Then they're rubbed out.The bodies are hauled through a tunnel into a trap door opening in the back of the building. Capone and his boys put the bodies in cars and then they're dumped out on a country road, or maybe in a clay hole or rock quarry. "

Other mobs gave the Four Deuces considerable competition, for example the Frolics Club.The Frolics Club offered women and booze of Four Deuces quality at lesser prices so with that the Capone mob had a problem.One night when the Capone boys had a corpse on their hands, they transported the body over to the Frolics Club and jammed it into the furnace. One of the Capone men then placed an indignant telephone call to the police to complain about the illegal crematorium being run at the Frolics Club.In moments sirens signaled the arrival of the police who, with flailing axes, burst into the club and hurried to the cellar. Sure enough, there was a partially burned corpse in the furnace. The authorities padlocked the joint and had the police virtually tear down the entire structure looking for more corpses.They found none but the Frolics Club never reopened.

One of the first reasons for the end of the golden era at the Four Deuces was the murder of John Duffy,O’Bannion’s associate.Duffy murdered his girlfriend Maybelle Exley.He panicked and called his boss for help. O’Banion told Duffy to meet him in Torrio’s club, the Four Deuces. When he got tired of waiting, Duffy left the Four Deuces only to find O’Banion waiting for him in a car outside. Dean brought him to a secluded woodland area and shot him, dumping the body in a location where it would easily be found. The most conniving part of the plot was that Duffy’s last known whereabouts was the Four Deuces,implicating Torrio’s Outfit in the murder. The subsequent investigation brought a lot of unwelcome attention to the club, disrupting the gambling, prostitution and drinking that took place on the premises. To make matters worse, the Four Deuce’s manager Al Capone was the number one suspect.Rumours are that the whole thing was orchestrated by O'Banion to make damage to his Italian rivals.Mayor of Chicago William "Decent" Dever had been causing problems for a lot of gangsters since he replaced the corrupt "Big Bill" Thompson in 1923. In 1924, Torrio decided it would be best to pull out and moved most of his business to Cicero.


Here’s some history of the Four Deuces: (Thanks to myalcaponemuseum.com for this info)

Built right after the great Chicago fire, circa 1880

In 1901, the building was then owned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Few years later Soloman Friedman,a Russian/Pole born in England,became an owner of the 2222 Wabash.He ran a saloon over there.

In 1917 the place was owned by Sol Van Praag,a first ward politician who also dabbled in gambling.

End of 1919 to beginning of 1920,John Torrio took over the whole building of 2222 South Wabash.

Al Capone became boss of the place while Torrio took a European trip. Things looked up until about 1923-24 when they had to close up shop due to a newly elected mayor William E. Dever, one who will have no part of this type of establishment.

In 1925 the once infamous Four Deuces became an ordinary building.

In 1964 the building went down.


Also here's a part from an article comming from a Chicago news paper,published on August 1922 mentioning the Four Deuces:

"Alfred Caponi(they misspelled his name), 25 years old, living at the notorious Four Deuces,a disorderly house at 2222 South Wabash avenue,will appear in the South Clark street court today to answer to a charge of assault with an automobile. Early this morning his automobile crashed into a Town taxicab, driven by Fred Krause, 741 Drake avenue, at North Wabash avenue and East Randolph street, injuring the driver. Three men and a woman, who were with Caponi, fled before the arrival of the police.Caponi is said to have been driving east in Randolph street at a high rate of speed. The taxicab was parked at the curb.Following the accident, Caponi alighted and nourishing a revolver, displayed a special deputy sheriff's badge and threatened to shoot Krause.”

This article is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.

Very cool find... I had heard of the Four Deuces but hadn't found much in regards to Capone's ties....

Yeah,theres not much info out there about the place.The Four Deuces was owned by Torrio and Al was some sort of a manager over there and ran things