North Side Gang
| Founded by | Dean O'Banion |
|---|---|
| Founding location | North Side, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Years active | 1919–Present |
| Territory | Various neighborhoods in Chicago, mainly North Chicago |
| Ethnicity | Irish American, Polish American, some Italian American and German-American |
| Membership (est.) | Around 30 members |
| Criminal activities | Racketeering, bootlegging, illegal gambling, extortion, robbery, murder |
| Rivals | Chicago Outfit and Genna crime family |
The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was the dominant Irish-American criminal organization (although a large number of Polish-Americans were members as well) within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early-to-late 1920s and principal rival of the Johnny Torrio–Al Capone organization, later known as the Chicago Outfit.
Like many other Chicago-based Prohibition gangs, the North Side Gang originated from the Market Street Gang, one of many street gangs in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. The Market Street Gang was made up of pick pockets, sneak thieves and labor sluggers working in the 42nd and 43rd Wards. The gang especially distinguished itself during the newspaper "Circulation Wars" of the early 1910s between the Chicago Examiner and the Chicago Tribune. As sluggers for a newspaper, the Market Street Gang would beat up newsstand owners who did not carry that publication.
It was during the Circulation Wars that future North Side leader Dean O'Banion, then a member of the juvenile satellite Little Hellions, who would develop valuable contacts with politicians and journalists. O'Banion and other members of the North Siders would be mentored by safecracker Charlie "The Ox" Reiser, O'Banion was one of the many Market Streeters to become a bootlegger.
With the start of Prohibition, the North Siders quickly took control of the existing breweries and distilleries in the North Side of Chicago. This gave them a near monopoly on the local supply of real beer and high quality whiskey; their rivals only had supplies of rotgut liquor and moonshine. Based on the North Clark Street restaurant McGovern's Saloon and Cafe, the North Side Gang would soon control the working-class neighborhoods of the 42nd and 43rd Wards within months. In addition to bootlegging, the gang continued to burglarize local stores and warehouses and run illegal gambling operations. Unlike the rival South Side Gang, however, they refused to traffic in prostitution. O'Banion strengthened his political protection by helping his politician friends commit election fraud. O'Banion also ran a publicity campaign in the North Side with large-scale donations to orphanages and charities as well as food and loans to the poor and unemployed.
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