Back In The Day, This Quiet Southern California Town Was A Mob Hangout
By Natasha Kayes|Published March 23, 2023
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Natasha Kayes
Author
I was born and raised in sunny Southern California and will never tire of the West Coast, although I spent several years living in Southeast Asia, about as far from California as you can get. Wherever I am in the world, I love straying from the beaten path, experiencing local life, and discovering hidden gems - camera in hand. The beach is my happy place and when I am not there (or writing), you will usually find me baking, watching movies, and cuddling my pugs. I have traveled around the country and around the world, and it never, ever gets old. Being able to combine my passion for travel and my love of writing is nothing short of a dream.
It is fairly common knowledge that for decades, Palm Springs has been a haven for celebrities and Hollywood A-Listers looking to escape the craziness of Hollywood and relax in a sort of wide-open exclusion – a place where they could hang out and be pretty much left alone. As it turns out, during the 1950s and 1960s, the laid-back vibe of the Coachella Valley desert was attractive to more than just movie stars. The presence of mobsters in Palm Springs turned this town into the first so-called “Gangster’s Paradise.”
As early as the 1930s, mobsters had established casinos in the Coachella Valley, laying the groundwork for decades as a mafia playground.
Rather than being taken over and claimed by one gang or a single mobster, Palm Springs has been referred to as a "mob Switzerland." This was never a battleground. Mobsters with different affiliations could escape to the desert and hide out in a conflict-free neutral territory. They could recover, unwind, and count and spend their money without looking over their shoulder.
Some well-known mobsters not only visited the town but moved there and made significant investments in it. In fact, there were almost 100 mobsters living in Palm Springs by the 1970s and apparently, they had collectively invested somewhere around $50 million in the desert town.
In the 1970s, Melvyn’s Restaurant was not only popular with Hollywood celebrities, but it was also one place where mobsters gathered - eating fine food, drinking wine, and telling stories.
There have been a lot of stories and rumors about Al Capone’s plans and hideaways in Southern California. Rumor has it that he bought the Two Bunch Palms resort in the 1920s and hid out there when in California.
Although it seems that Capone never really did come to California, you can book one of the Capone Suites at the hotel and imagine the Gangster’s Paradise in its heyday.
In 1936, Al Wertheimer, part of the infamous Purple Gang from Chicago, built and opened the Colonial House hotel, which became The Colony Palms and has been completely renovated in recent years.
While the hotel itself catered to celebs, an ironically well-known underground speakeasy and brothel attracted a whole other kind of clientele.
Prior to opening the Colonial House, Werthemeir opened the Dunes Club in Cathedral City, just outside of Palm Springs. This nightclub and casino in the middle of nowhere hosted such names as Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, in addition to a myriad of gamblers and partyers.
Another Chicago mobster, Al Hart, founded the first City National Bank in Palm Springs, a branch of what came to be known as the entertainment bank of Beverly Hills. The iconic blue bank building is now a branch of Bank of America.
The mafia’s presence and influence in the desert were romanticized over the years, and of course, it was not all fun and glamour. But this quiet SoCal town was definitely a mobster hideaway and has a storied past. Did you know about this part of Palm Springs’ history? What other stories have you heard?
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