Alphonse "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899-January 25, 1947)
Alphonse "Al" Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 17, 1899 and made his way to Chicago in the early 1920s. His activities and legend made him Chicago's most notorious resident for many decades after his death in 1947.
Capone made his headquarters in the South Loop from the mid-1920s through his conviction on tax evasion charges in 1931, first at the Metropole Hotel at 2300 S. Michigan Avenue, and then at the Lexington Hotel at 2135 S. Michigan.
Capone spent nearly eight years in federal prisons from 1932 to 1939, first in Atlanta, then Alcatraz, then Terminal Island. Throughout his captivity, his health and sanity steadily declined due to his infection with syphillis as a young man.
Capone was released from federal prison on November 16, 1939 due to good behavior and ill health. He spent a brief time in the hospital, then returned to his home in Florida.
Suffering from dementia, Capone died on January 25, 1947 at his home in Palm Island, Florida. He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery on the far South Side of Chicago. In March 1950, his remains and those of his family members were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
