St. Valentine's Day Massacre Site

The site of the infamous February 14, 1929 massacre where seven members of Bugs Moran's gang were gunned down in a hit presumably ordered by Al Capone. The S-M-C Cartage Company warehouse stood here until its demolition in 1967. The bullet-riddled bricks became collector's items.

The S-M-C Cartage Company warehouse at 2122 North Clark Street was the site of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929. Seven men working for mob boss Bugs Moran were lined up against the back wall and executed in a hit presumably ordered by Al Capone. The killers, dressed as police officers conducting a raid, opened fire with Thompson submachine guns, leaving the victims riddled with bullets. Capone was never convicted for the crime.

The garage, marked "SMC Cartage Company," was a front for the North Side Gang's liquor distribution during Prohibition. After the massacre, stories of hauntings began almost immediately. The building stood for nearly four decades before being demolished in 1967 to make way for the Margaret Day Blake apartments, a Chicago Housing Authority seniors' development.

When the building was slated for demolition, entrepreneur George Patey purchased the bricks from the blood-stained north wall. Three hundred of those cursed bricks are now displayed at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. According to legend, anyone who purchased one of the bricks met with misfortune—illness, financial disaster, divorce, and even death. Buyers reported the bricks were powerful sources of negative energy.

Even today, passersby claim to hear screams and machine gun fire near the vacant lot. Other inexplicable noises and overwhelming feelings of dread pervade the location. Dogs react strangely when passing the site, possibly sensing lingering energy. Residents in adjacent buildings report poltergeist activity—objects flying off counters and falling from shelves. One elderly resident claims to hear screams constantly, while another woman covered her mirror after repeatedly seeing gangsters reflected in the glass.

Perhaps most chilling: after a fresh Chicago snowfall, residents have reported seeing the outline of seven bodies in the snow, precisely where the rear north wall once stood.

Even Capone himself seemed haunted by the massacre. While incarcerated, his deteriorating mental state convinced him he was being haunted by James Clark, one of the victims. Fellow inmates reported hearing Capone screaming in his cell, begging "Jimmy" to leave him alone. Upon release, Capone enlisted psychic Alice Britt to rid him of Clark's vengeful spirit.