As a teenager I lived with my family in an apartment in the Baldwin Hills section of Los Angeles. Our next door neighbor was a bear of man named Sam Farkas who just happened to be Mickey Cohen’s bodyguard up until the time Cohen was sent to the big house for tax evasion. Sam remained active in the “Mob” until the 1970’s when he was convicted on RICO charges. I remembered that he always wore a sport coat to hide the gun I occasionally glimpsed in the holster just under his left arm.
Sometimes we would speak as we both lay out by the pool. One day he asked me if I would be interested in delivering some packages for which he would pay me $25 per delivery. Wow! $25 was a fortune in 1958 for an 18-year-old. Against my parents’ wishes I said okay. For several months I made two or three deliveries of small packages per week. I was in fat city!
Every once in a while, he would tell me stories of the old days. I remember his mentioning a trip he took to Florida with Cohen’s boss, Johnny Torrio. After flying into an airport on the west side of St. Petersburg, they attended a conference of “Made Men” at a hotel in a newly developed area called “The Jungle…something”. They also spent time at a speakeasy named the Gangplank, in which he thought Al Capone had an interest. This caught my attention because I’d been in St. Petersburg while on vacation with my family.
About three months later I was awakened to the sound of machine gun fire. I stood on my bed and peeked out the window and saw two black cars parked in the alley each with a machine gun firing out of a back window raking the rear of our building. Soon after the black vehicles drove off, six police cars arrived. As a witness I spent quite a bit of time speaking with the police and had to go to the station to look at mug shots. Although I wasn’t able to identify anyone, the experience made me rethink the wisdom of working for Mr. Farkas. However, it was immaterial because two days later Sam Farkas and his wife left our building in the middle of the night.
Now fifty-some odd years later and living here in St. Petersburg, I thought it might be interesting to see if I could locate the hotel and speakeasy.
After much time spent at the Mirror Lake Library and online I found conflicting reports of Al Capone’s presence in St. Petersburg. Many articles mention that “Scarface” Al Capone was part owner of the Gangplank speakeasy in the Jungle Prada area of St Petersburg on Park St. near Elbow Lane N. He owned a home in what was to become Shore Acres that he purportedly built for his mother.
I believe the airport mentioned by Sam Farkas was Walter Fuller Airfield which had a dirt runway and was located on what is now the Tyrone Mall. This spot would have been convenient to both the Gangplank night club and the Jungle Country Club Hotel.
Built in 1924, the Gangplank was in the Spanish-Caribbean style and was the first nightclub to open in St. Petersburg. During prohibition it was known to be a speakeasy where Count Basie & Duke Ellington performed. There was supposedly a tunnel that ran under the fireplace all the way to Boca Ciega Bay, making easy access for bootleggers to unload their cargo without interference from the police. Today it is a local watering hole called the Jungle Prada Tavern. It still retains much of the original design, including stucco arches, terrazzo floors and the original safe from the speakeasy days. Current residents of the Jungle Prada area find it a friendly place to eat and drink.
The Jungle Country Club Hotel was a three-story Mediterranean Revival style building designed by Henry Taylor, the noted architect of the Vinoy. The hotel was built in 1925 on 225 acres located at 501 Park Street North. At the time it was said to be the fanciest place in the city. World War II brought a decline in tourism and in 1942 the hotel was leased to the Army Air Corps to house trainees until 1945, when it was sold to the Admiral Farragut Academy, named after Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the first U.S. Naval officer to rise to the rank of Admiral. The Academy sold off the hotel’s golf course in the 1940’s and early 1950’s, adding buildings for classrooms and administrative facilities.
Many believe in these stories about the mob activity in St. Petersburg while others may not. I enjoy writing about things I have found. I leave it up to you to believe what you will.
