Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery

[paperdoil]

We went to Mount Carmel today to walk around and take pictures. My sole purpose was to find Al Capone's grave.

We found it.

The cigar was already there.

Comments

[craigcopeland]

You would think he would have a bigger head stone!

[paperdoil]

As you'll see in future posts, there are a LOT of above ground crypts and mausoleums, which one would think Capone would have, but he doesn't.

Just a little spot in his family plot.

Until just a few years ago there was a bush in front of the family marker blocking out the name so unless you knew where to look, it was virtually impossible to find his headstone. They did that because as you can see, to this day people still leave things at his grave.

[julylorelei]

What part of the city is this in? I never get out of downtown Chicago when I visit, but I'd be curious to try and go there myself.

If you've not done it, I would recommend The Gangster Tour - it goes past Capone's brewery, his old homes and clubs, the theater where John Dillinger was shot, the location of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and more. The guys who do the tours dress and talk the part, and they're a lot of fun.

Sadly, though, the Chicago Board of Tourism won't list this as an "activity" on their website - for some reason, they feel the guides are "glorifying" or "promoting" the city's mobster past, rather than just seeing it as an educational trip through the city's actual history.

[paperdoil]

It is in a suburb of Chicago, Hillside. Right off of Roosevelt and Wolf roads.

Seeing how we're trying to go and do more interesting things as a family I definately will look into that gangster tour. It sounds fasinating.