My wife and I were in Newport today. Now for those of you who are not from my area or are not up on Mafia history, Newport for years was known to have Mafia ties. It was in the 1960's that they started to try to break those ties. It was hard in getting rid of the gambling places that were around but over time they were successful in most areas. In recent years it seemed as if Newport would finally be successful. With a new shopping district and an aquarium on the Ohio river alot of businesses and tourists are comming to the city. Then just across the street from that district I saw this sign. It marks the historical site of the inventor of the Tommygun. You know the machine gun that most of the gangsters of the 30's and 40's were known to have used. If you scan below you can see a picture of what the house looks like. It is now a restaurant called the Southgate House. While the sign does say that he regrets that it was known as a gangster weapon, I still thought it was odd that a city that wanted to cut its ties with that era of history would put of a sign showing that was the reason for the building being a historical site. 
5 comments:
does anyone remember an old novel that centers around the No. Ky mobster history. Characters such as Johnny Tv Peluso are mentioned.
I thought it was syndicate wife, but not so. Help me out here and let me know if you know of such a book and it's title.
Syndicate Wife wasn't suppose to be a novel I have heard that it is true. If that isn't the book you are looking for then perhaps it is On The Run: A Mafia Childhood by Gregg Hill and Gina Hill. THey have it at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FTCH70?tag=onmymind-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B000FTCH70&adid=1QC238DKD4J0XGKERZQT&
I read a book a few years back called the Syndicate Wife or the Syndicate's Wife. It was all about the Newport mob. However, the book is out of print, and the author wants like $150 for a copy last time I tried to get one.
I hope this helps. The author is Harry Messick.
Actually the book recently did come back in print. I have seen it in Borders in Northern Kentucky.
Since I lived in Newport and my step-father was a blackjack dealer at the Yorkshire Club, and having lived there, I can tell you Messick's book was written from the view of an outsider, many years after the fact.My Mother ran the poker game at the Glen hotel, and it was only part of that operation that was on the up and up.The casino games at the Glen were what people in the business called bustout, in that you couldn't win.The Cleveland syndicate run clubs were legit, same as Vegas.
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