Bullet holes, wooden bars and vaults are just a few of the items visitors can see at these favorite stomping grounds of the most famous outlaws, gangsters and criminals in American history.
Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse
Chicago
Photo courtesy of Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse
Where today stands a lovely steakhouse named after famous Cubs announcer Harry Caray in the River North district of Chicago was once the home to a notorious mobster. Frank Nitti, the enforcer of Al Capone's gang, lived in a fourth floor apartment during the early 1940s in the 1895 building designed by renowned architect Henry Ives Cobb.
Today, take a tour with Chicago Crime Tours to visit the basement level of the restaurant to see many of the personal effects, including a vault and phone book with gangster contacts, left behind by Nitti.
Big Nose Kate's Saloon
Tombstone, Ariz.
There is likely no more famous gunfight than the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, and visitors to this Old West town can still see many of the places frequented by Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Cowboys. Boot Hill, the cemetery which serves as the final resting places of many outlaws remains, and tourists can also rest their elbows on the same wooden bar as did the Earps, Doc and the Clantons.
The bar, once a part of the Grand Hotel where several of the gunslingers were staying the night before the shootout, is one of the only objects that survived when the hotel burned in 1882. Now it sits in Big Nose Kate's Saloon, which stands on the site of the Grand Hotel.
Slippery Noodle Inn
Indianapolis
Photo courtesy of Visit Indy
The oldest bar in the state of Indiana, opened in 1850, was formerly a hangout of Public Enemy No. 1, John Dillinger. Dillinger, an Indianapolis native, spent most of his days planning and executing bank robberies across the Midwest.
He and his gang would head to old horse stables behind the the Slippery Noodle Inn, located in downtown Indianapolis, for target practice. Their bullet holes remain to this day. The "Noodle" has also seen everything from illegal beer production in the Prohibition Era to slaves passing through as a way station on the Underground Railroad.
Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon No. 10
Deadwood, S.D.
Photo courtesy of SD Department of Tourism/Deadwood.com
This saloon in the Wild West town of Deadwood is the spot where Wild Bill Hickock was gunned down by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876. The original location of the No. 10 Saloon was destroyed by a massive fire in 1879, along with much of Deadwood’s downtown core district.
In 1898, a new building was built on the site, which now contains a bar scene on the lower level designed to resemble what the original saloon may have looked like. Visitors can also take a short tour of the original location of Wild Bill's murder.
Alcalde Hotel
Gonzales, Texas
Photo courtesy of Alcalde Hotel
A visit to the Alcalde Hotel in Gonzales, Texas, lets you lay eyes on the second-story window where criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde jumped to avoid capture by the police. The pair, known for their many bank robberies during the Great Depression, stayed at the hotel while on the run.
Guests can even reserve the "Bonnie and Clyde" room when visiting the hotel, which was built in 1926. The couple weren't the only famous guests; Elvis Presley also stayed at the hotel on multiple occasions.
Stockyards Hotel
Fort Worth
Another stop on Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree was the Stockyards Hotel in Fort Worth. Reserve the actual room where the couple holed up, which features a king-size bed, lamps made of spurs and horseshoes and a gaming table. There are also historic artifacts, including Bonnie's revolver, photographs, newspaper clippings and a poem written by Bonnie for Clyde.
Old Trail Town
Cody, Wyo.
Photo courtesy of Buffalo Bill's Cody-Yellowstone Country
Old Trail Town is a living history museum on the road to Yellowstone National Park of many buildings from the Old West. The Mud Spring Cabin, constructed in 1897, was used by Kid Curry and the Sundance Kid as a hideout before they tried to rob a Montana bank.
Visitors can also see the cabin where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and their Hole in the Wall Gang used to hang out, and stop in the 1888 Rivers Saloon, which was frequented by cowboys, gold miners and outlaws, complete with bullet holes still in the wall.
Occidental Hotel
Buffalo, Wyo.
Photo courtesy of The Occidental
Another Old West hangout, which saw many famous faces, such as Butch Cassidy, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill and even two U.S. presidents, is the Occidental Hotel in Wyoming.
The hotel, which was restored to its original grandeur when it was built in 1880, has amazingly remained standing when so many other buildings of the Old West burned or were torn down. Be sure to stop in the saloon where you can not only stand where many outlaws once cavorted but see original bullet holes in the ceiling.
French Country Inn
Lake Geneva, Wis.
Situated on Lake Como, today's French Country Inn was once part of Lake Como Inn, a popular Wisconsin getaway for notorious Chicago gangsters.
George “Bugs” Moran and Baby Face Nelson, as well as their "molls" and wives, and members of the John Dillinger gang, visited the inn during summers to escape the city in the 1920s and 30s, according to current owner Tony Navilio. Navilio has penned a fictional book about the inn based on its history entitled, Murder at the French Country Inn.
Jesse James Bank
Liberty, Miss.
Photo courtesy of Missouri Division of Tourism
The Jesse James Bank in Liberty, Missouri, is the site of the first daylight, peacetime bank robbery in the United States. James and his gang rode into town on horseback and held up the bank, leaving one person dead.
Visitors to the bank, which is decorated as it was in 1866 with period furnishings, can now see the original vault and hear the story of the robbery as told by an actor portraying a bank teller.
