How the O’Connor System Lasted for so Long
The O’Connor system lasted for about forty years, even after O’Connor’s death in 1924. St. Paul gangsters knew when they had a good thing going. Anyone caught violating the rules or breaking their pledge not to commit a crime was dealt with quickly and severely. According to St. Paul historian Paul Maccabee, St. Paul was a very safe place to be. Not just for criminals, but also for citizens and police. Safety aside, many of St. Paul’s residents resisted Prohibition and being treated like criminals for buying a beer. They were happy to flout, even help violate, a rule with which they didn’t agree. But the system broke down once criminals became bold. They were committing crimes within the city, ignoring the terms of the O’Connor agreement. The glory years were over, gone out with a literal bang, one as loud as the car bomb that killed Dapper Dan Hogan.
Where Do We Find This Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:
A shootout at St. Paul’s Lincoln Court Apartments. Ron Dansley, Newsbreak.com, 14 July 2021.
Crooks’ haven: The gangster era in St. Paul. Sharon Park, MinnPost, 10 November 2015.
Gangster era in St. Paul, 1900-1936. Sharon Park, MNopedia, 4 November 2015.
John Dillinger Slept Here. Paul Maccabee (1995). Minnesota Historical Society Press.
O’Connor Layover Agreement. Matt Reicher, MNopedia, 14 July 2014.
The O’Connor Layover System. Edward J. Steenberg, Saint Paul Police Historical Society, (n.d.).
Lincoln Court Apartments. HTC, Historic Twin Cities, 5 December 2019.
The Volstead Act. Kerry C. Kelly, National Archives, 24 February 2017.
St. Paul’s Nina Clifford: the richest woman of the underworld. Alexandra Scholten, MNopedia.