The St. Valentine's Day Massacre Garage: Seven Men, One Wall

On February 14, 1929, seven men associated with Bugs Moran's North Side gang were lined up against the inside wall of a garage at 2122 N Clark Street and shot to death by killers believed to be members of Al Capone's South Side Outfit, some disguised as police officers. It was the most infamous gangland murder in American history, carried out in daylight. Capone was in Florida at the time, establishing an alibi. The garage was demolished in 1967. That year, a Canadian businessman, George Patey, bought the bricks of the actual wall where the men died and later rebuilt it inside his Vancouver nightclub, the Banjo Palace. It reportedly brought such a streak of misfortune to everyone who owned it — accidents, bankruptcy, illness — that it became a legend of its own. Patey sold some bricks individually, and they have traded hands for hundreds of dollars each; in 2012 most of the remaining wall went to the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, where it is on display. The lot at 2122 N Clark is now an unmarked lawn and parking area on the grounds of a senior-living building. Not a single public plaque marks the spot where seven men were executed on a February morning.