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Part 2: Cruising this stunning stretch of the upper Mississippi, you’d never know you were in a former haven for the likes of Bugsy Siegel and the Ma Barker gang.
By Liz Pasch — Spring 2006
This guide is dressed as “Baby Face” Nelson in a pinstriped suit. He’s toting a Tommy gun and is well into character as I climb aboard.
“Who is you?” he demands, scanning his list for my name. “Okay, den. Sad-down and shadd-app!”
He explains how St. Paul Police Chief John J. “The Big Fellow” O’Connor rolled out the welcome mat for gangsters before World War II with his “layover agreement,” which guaranteed safe harbor on three conditions: Commit no crimes within city limits, check in upon arrival, and make a “contribution” to the police retirement fund. Then the bus takes us to the actual hideouts where Bugsy Siegel and Ma Barker took shelter from the fuzz.
Funny, but the “hideouts” include a regular office building and nondescript white house. I’ve driven past both countless times, never the wiser.
TO THE MUSEUM, MADAM
The energy from the apple I ate earlier had worn off at some point between where John Dillinger was shot and where the grandson of the Hamm’s Brewery founder was kidnapped. I knew the ,fridge on the Silverton was empty, so instead of walking back to the marina, I make my way across the river to downtown St. Paul. After a stop at a pizza shop, I head west a couple of blocks on Kellogg Street, where I run smack into my next gangster site—although it doesn’t look like one now.
The Science Museum of Minnesota stands at the former location of the home of Nina Clifford, the area’s most prominent gangster-era businesswoman. Her brothel was conveniently located across the street from a gentlemen’s club, from which an underground tunnel is rumored to have led to Clifford’s back door.
The Minnesota Club, still standing at 317 Washington Street, doesn’t deny its association with Clifford and in fact appears to be quite proud of it, given the portrait of the legendary madam hanging on the wall above the main bar. Years after the brothel was demolished and the building site excavated, more than 14,000 artifacts were found, some described as “Victorian love devices.”
I spend several hours in the museum, and although some of those “devices” are intriguing, I am eager to walk onward.
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Part 3: St. Paul Page
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