Will Artifacts Confirm Discovery of Secret Capone Hideout?

Jean Garland had always admired the stately home where she and her family now live. But she never knew that secrets dating back more than a half century could have been buried beneath it.

In May 2000, the Garlands bought the home, which sits on a bluff overlooking Three Mile Lake in Paw Paw. And in the years since, neighbors started telling them stories about how the house was a getaway and hideout for notorious Chicago mob boss Al Capone. Capone died in 1947.

Eventually, their curiosity got the best of them. Last spring, they began digging for answers.

They found a hole in a wall in the basement, and upon looking down inside it, saw a shaft reinforced with steel and wood ran from the bottom of the hole further back into the basement.

They started clearing an area around a place they thought the shaft -- which might have provided a stream of fresh air -- could have ended. What they found surprised them.

A circular outline in the concrete about four feet in diameter emerged, and they went to work smashing through the concrete to see what was below.

All of a sudden, the concrete gave-way, revealing a hole with brick walls and a heavy iron fixture at its top.

"That's when our hearts started beating," Jean said.

Jean's husband, Jim, grabbed a hand-held ice auger and began slicing through the dirt. When he got down nearly six feet, he stopped.

They found Chicago Daily Tribune newspaper clippings from the 1930s and 1940s, along with assorted empty bottles and other items.

Could this have been a secret area for Capone or one of his associates to hide if law enforcement came knocking? Or is it an old well? Jean said it's not likely to be a well because there is no solid bottom to it.

"If it is a real hideout, then it's really interesting what we've found," Jim said.
In all, the Garlands have collected about 100 artifacts, he said. None of the items bears Capone's name, however.

Behind the main house, a yellow carriage house sits close to the Garlands' garage. Jim and Jean's daughter, Cara, currently lives there, but neighbors told the family that employees of Capone stayed there when he was staying at the main house.

Further back, encased in a heavily wooded area, is a five-sided, three-story silo, with windows on each side.

Neighbors said it served as a look-out tower for Capone's security detail, who would position themselves on the top floor, where a pool table currently sits, Jim said. On the bottom floor, Capone would host cock fighting contests, Jean said neighbors told her.

Tom Dietz, curator of research at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, said he has heard stories over the years about the possibility of a Capone home in the area, but he remains skeptical.

"There certainly have been legends and folklore that Capone did have such a home," he said. "But so far, I have not been persuaded."

It's not inconceivable that the gangster -- who was known to have spent time in Michigan -- could have had a house in the area, Dietz said, given the Kalamazoo area's equidistance from Chicago and Detroit. The proximity would have been a boon to his alleged bootlegging operations.

Dietz has investigated several claims from area homeowners who insisted their homes were used by Capone, but all were unsubstantiated, he said.

Still, he's curious about the Garland home.

"I'd be happy to take a look out there," he said. "Who knows what we'll find."

For their part, the Garlands are cautiously optimistic that their home is the real deal, saying they believe they have encountered paranormal activity.

Routinely, a television in their main living room turns on suddenly. A rocking chair in the carriage house rocked even when no one was in it. Disturbed, Cara got rid of the rocking chair.

"If this was an Al Capone house, then it's almost like he's still here," Jean said.

Thanks to Chris Killian