Purple Gang Walking Tour

Purple_Gang_wikipedia
From wikipedia: Founded 1920s Founding location Detroit, Michigan, United States Years active 1910s − 1932 Territory Detroit Criminal activities Murder, extortion, theft, armed robbery, kidnapping, gambling, bootlegging Allies The Capone mob, Fred “Killer” Burke Rivals Rival gangs, The Detroit Partnership, Fred “Killer” Burke after 1927 The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, was a mob of bootleggers and hijackers, with predominantly Jewish members. They operated out of Detroit, Michigan, in the 1920s and came to be Detroit’s dominant criminal gang, but ultimately excessive violence and infighting caused the gang to self-destruct in the 1930s.

From an article by Frank Passic on AlbionMich.com

The Purple Gang was a group of notorious Detroit gangsters during the 1920s and 1930s. Brothers Louis, Sam and Harry Fleisher were involved with the group. The latter two were convicted of conspiracy to murder Senator Warren G. Hooper in 1945. The Fleishers came to Albion in the 1930s and operated a junk yard in the Market Place between present-day Thompsons Brakes and the new Leisure Hour Club as a “front” for their criminal activity. The business was called the Riverside Iron and Metal Company.

Albion was a perfect site between Detroit and Chicago for gangster meetings, which were held in places like the balcony of the Bohm Theatre, the Parker Inn where gangsters lodged, and at the Streetcar Tavern west of town where mobster Abe “Buffalo Harry” Rosenberg and his brother Louis owned the apartment house attached to the tavern. Purple Gang members would also purchase home-made liquor manufactured on the “west end” of town.


The Purple Gang walking tour of  Albion shows several of the places that the Purple Gang would frequent when in Albion Michigan.  A printable copy of this self guided walking tour can be found on the website: CascarellisAlbion.com  purple_gang_map-210