Back In The Day, This Quiet Illinois Town Was A Mafia Mecca
By Linze Rice|Published March 23, 2023
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Linze Rice
Author
Ope! From the rural cornfields of DeKalb County, Linze is an Illinois native and true Midwestern gal who can make a mean bonfire and whip up a perfect marshmallow salad. Since 2014, her bylines and photography have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, and Block Club Chicago/DNAinfo Chicago, Only in Your State, and more. She has interviewed Dolly Parton, written about beloved diners along historic Route 66, visited the last Rainforest Cafe in the Illinois, and reviewed luxurious English manor-inspired hotels. Whether it's writing about a local gem or world-renowned establishment, Linze brings a heartwarming and historical perspective to each story, using facts, wit, and personal experience to impress upon readers the importance of culture, food, travel, and all things local. Her favorite destinations in Illinois include Starved Rock State Park, Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, the charming small town of Sycamore, and historic Rosehill Cemetery. When she's not writing or photographing, Linze enjoys gardening, spending time with her husband and pets, cooking, baking, and grilling, and relaxing with trashy TV.
It’s no secret that Chicago has a bit of a history with the mafia. It was the home base for infamous mobster Al “Scarface” Capone who ran the Chicago Outfit gang, and the site of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. But the mob madness wasn’t confined to the city limits, Capone’s reach extended into the small towns and villages of the suburbs, too. While some connections, like to that of Cicero, Illinois, are well-known, the mafia history of Stickney, Illinois may surprise you.
About 10 miles outside Chicago is the small village of Stickney, with a population of just under 7,000 residents across about 2 square miles of land.
The village was incorporated in 1913, but six years later was still predominately farmland. Only about 100 houses comprised the village — making it prime for the taking by someone powerful enough.
Spoiler alert: That powerful figure wound up being Capone and his brother Ralph, who began to take over the town by running a number of illegal trades.
Ralph Capone in particular helped head the brothel, gambling, and alcohol businesses in the Stickney area, as well as those in nearby Forest View, according to Linda M. Malek, a local Stickney resident and author of "When Capone Ruled The Village."
City officials participated in the corruption by actively working with the mobsters, while also turning a blind eye. Eventually, residents were even hired to help with the liquor trade.
Stickney was labeled as an "oasis for the thirsty," while Forest View gained the nickname "Caponeville" after the town's founder was "run out of town," Malek says.
While the Prohibition Era was short-lived, its effects last locally to this day.
Stickney was also home to crime boss and pizza maker Alfonso Tornabene — also known as "Al the Pizza Man." Tornabene was a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit who founded Villa Nova pizzeria in 1955, a favorite local pizza spot.
It was discovered that Tornabene was running the gang's activities in the suburbs for many years, and had even been targeted in a law enforcement operation that ultimately took down big names like Frank Calabrese Sr., Joseph Lombardo, and James Marcello. Tornabene died in 2009.
Though not quite as well-known as Chicago’s mobster ties, the mafia history of Stickney, Illinois is a story all its own. Have you ever heard any mob stories about Stickney or Forest View? Tell us in the comments! And while mobsters are on the mind, be sure to check out this secret mafia vault in Downtown Chicago, or check out the menu for Villa Nova pizza, which is run today by Tornabene’s daughter.
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