The Gangland Inn

     In 1924, a new hotel opened at the corner of Stony Island and 67th St. It was a sparkling building with 300 rooms and a magnificent location right at the entrance to Jackson Park. Soon enough the hotel was a jewel of the South Shore. Like many hotels of that era, the Southmoor soon became a well-renowned residential hotel, much like many others that populated Chicago's finer areas. In 1955, it had a brush with fame as Elvis Presley ducked into the Southmoor to hide out from crazed fans during the first time he was touring in Chicago. 7 years later, there was a meeting held here to formally organize The Woodlawn Organization. TWO was tasked with using radical forms of resistance to prevent the University of Chicago from expanding into the surrounding neighborhood(since then, the University and TWO have settled their differences and now work together to help improve the community).

     By 1969, things started to go downhill when the management unwittingly hired local gangbangers to help run the hotel. Within a matter of months, they had successfully driven away both their fellow employees(and more vital to the bottom line) most of the tenants. In 1970, Time magazine wrote an article about the deteriorating Southmoor's new status as a literal gangster's paradise. This didn't sit too well with Mayor Daley, who took the building for the city, kicked out all of the gangsters, and tried to find someone to buy the building. But nobody was interested(not even Geraldo), and the Southmoor was ultimately demolished in 1977.