Hot Springs: From Capone to Costello (Images of America) - Softcover

Raines, Robert K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1467110760 ISBN 13: 9781467110761

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

From a hot springs attraction to a central location for gangsters, gambling, moonshine and organized crime, trace the evolution of this "loose buckle in the Bible belt", now a resort and major tourist destination.

In the late 1800s, Hot Springs, Arkansas, was a small town with a big attraction: hot thermal water. The federal government took possession of the downtown-area springs, and bathhouse row was born, along with the first property that would be considered a national park. Following not too far behind were great entrepreneurs who brought in gambling and prostitution to go with the area's leading industry: moonshining. By the time the 20th century rolled in, Hot Springs was booming with tourists and became America's first resort. In the early 1930s, former New York gangster Owen Madden took up residence in the spa city, and things became very organized. Gangland luminaries from Al Capone to Frank Costello made regular pilgrimages over the next few decades to what was referred to as "the loose buckle in the Bible Belt."

About this title

About the Author

Author Robert K. Raines, director of the Gangster Museum of America, has selected images from the museum's extensive photograph collection, along with several others from local and state historical societies as well as some of the country's most notable historians of this genre, to illustrate his account of what could be America's best-kept secret.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1467110760
• ISBN 13: 9781467110761
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128