During the roaring days of Prohibition in the 1920s, while the rest of the nation struggled with dry laws, Kentucky, the heart of Bourbon Country, was a magnet for the era’s most notorious figures. Among them was the legendary Chicago mob boss, Al Capone, whose visits to the Bluegrass State were as frequent as they were clandestine. His favorite, and perhaps most famous, hideout was in Louisville—a testament to Kentucky’s role in the illicit liquor trade that fueled his criminal empire.
🏛️ The Seelbach Hotel: Capone's Kentucky Home Base
Capone's repeated visits to Kentucky almost always centered around the luxurious Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville. As one of the grandest hotels between Chicago and the East Coast, the Seelbach offered the perfect blend of opulence and utility for an underworld kingpin.
The Oakroom and Hidden Passageways
Capone's preferred sanctuary within the hotel was a small, private alcove in The Oakroom, a space that served as a gentleman's billiard hall and card room at the time. It was here that he would engage in high-stakes poker and blackjack games, all while maintaining a vigilant eye on his surroundings.
The Guard Mirror: Ever cautious, Capone had a large, custom-made mirror shipped from Chicago and installed in his alcove. This mirror allowed him to see anyone entering the room without having to turn his back—a crucial security measure for a man with many enemies. The mirror is allegedly still in place today .
The Quick Escape: The alcove was strategically chosen for its proximity to secret doors and passageways. These hidden panels, built into the elaborate oak paneling, led to a network of secret stairwells and tunnels beneath the hotel. This ensured that if a rival gang or the police—especially the revenuers—came calling, Capone could slip away undetected into the Louisville underground. A button allegedly controlled the automatic closing of the doors, giving him precious seconds to escape.
The Rathskeller: Underground Speakeasy
Another notorious spot within the Seelbach was the Rathskeller. This subterranean room, with its unique vaulted ceilings and Rookwood Pottery tilework, was an ideal location for a speakeasy during Prohibition. It’s said Capone enjoyed this hidden grotto and may have used the room's acoustic properties, where sound can travel across the arched ceiling, to eavesdrop on conversations.
Capone's presence in Louisville was primarily driven by the bootlegging trade, as Kentucky’s vast stores of high-quality bourbon were a critical supply for his Chicago Outfit. The Seelbach served as a convenient and glamorous meeting point for coordinating these liquor runs.
🥃 Louisville: The Bourbon Connection
The Bluegrass State, and Louisville specifically, was central to Capone's operations due to the quality and quantity of its whiskey. Despite the 18th Amendment, high-quality Kentucky bourbon remained a valuable commodity, and the route from Kentucky north to Chicago was heavily trafficked by bootleggers. Capone's visits to Louisville were often tied to managing this lucrative supply chain.
Capone wasn't the only gangster to frequent the Seelbach. Cincinnati-based mobster George Remus, known as the "King of the Bootleggers," was a contemporary and associate who also spent time at the luxurious hotel. In fact, Remus’s high-profile, glamorous, and often violent lifestyle—much of it spent at the Seelbach—is widely believed to have served as the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby while the author was stationed at nearby Camp Taylor. The Seelbach is even considered the model for the hotel where the wedding of Tom and Daisy Buchanan takes place in The Great Gatsby.
While his home base and notorious activities were centralized in Louisville, the search for connections to other parts of Kentucky, such as Lexington, often focuses on the confusion between the city names and the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, which served as Capone's long-time headquarters in Illinois.
Al Capone’s time in Louisville solidified the city's place in Prohibition-era lore, turning a beautiful historic hotel into a shadowy hub for the underworld’s most legendary figures.
You can learn more about the hotel's history and its infamous guests by watching this video. This video explores the very secret tunnels and hidden doors Capone allegedly used at the Seelbach Hotel to escape the police.
