[Compression]

The building no longer stands. It was destroyed by fire, June 10, 1956. The site is now an Olive Garden restaraunt, at the corner of Gratiot and Chesterfield Rd......that is, indeed, Chesterfield Twp.

Note the picture from front page of Detroit Free Press, June 11, 1956. Appears to be same building in photo from page 45 of Kavieff's book.

Eastpointe Professional Firefighters Association

Sunzeri owes me lunch, if he/she should ever get to SW Florida........

[sunzeri]

Excellent!

It seems that the gambling houses arose as a result of the bath houses in Mount Clemens, which were extremely popular from the turn of the 20th century, until about 1940. It makes sense that the club would be in Chesterfield as it's only 5 miles or so away.

I wonder what the Chesterfield Inn, or what remains of its foundation, looks like today.

Thanks for all your help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Compression]

The site is now an Olive Garden restaraunt, according to the 2008 updated page in the link in post #11.

I'll see if I can find a picture for you.

The address in 49660 Gratiot Ave, Chesterfield, MI 48051
Might try to google map it, and get the street view pic.
Best of luck with your essay.......

[asylum023]

It was called the Chesterfield Arena, my dad used to work there for wrestling. Him and his friend used to go across Gratiot to a huge pear tree and shake down pears. When the man who owed the owners of the Chesterfield Arena was found dead and hanging from that tree, it was closed down as the arena for good.

It was later the Roma Hall, which burned down, they rebuilt it, it burned down again years later, it is now the Olive Garden. The Hall was popular for wedding receptions and also flea markets.

We have been looking for photos of the Chesterfield Arena and/or Roma Hall for a wrestling article my dad is doing. They just do not seem to exist online, except that fire articles.

It was East Detroit, it is now Eastpointe.

[sunzeri]

Would you be able to put some dates on when it was known as the Arena, and when it was finally destroyed?

Sounds like the owners of the Chesterfield Arena didn't want to be messed with!

~~~~~~~~~~

[joey beens]

I have a lot of the original gaming chips from that club

[ryan90274]

George Weinbrenner, Lincoln Fitzgerald and Danny Sullivan were St. Louis natives. During WWI they went to Detroit, at the behest of John J. "Baldy" Ryan who was heavily connected to the Irish mob (the Considines and Big Tim Sullivan) that ran gambling in the United States at that time. In the early 1920s, the three men opened and operated the Chesterfield Club which was located just inside the Macomb County Line. The club operated under the protection of the law enforcement authorities for about five years. Between 1923 and 1925, Jack Ryan operated a gambling club in the Grand Circus area of Detroit, the building sits now across from the baseball stadium. Motor buses would transport working men from his club to Weinbrenners. Mert Werthmeier and his three brothers operated a similar place in a hotel down the street.

Weinbrenner married one of Jack's daughters, Helen Ryan. The marriage produced two sons, Paul Worth and George Ryan, both now dead. In about 1925, the Italians changed the nature of the game dramatically by introducing wholesale violence onto Detroit's streets. They began kidnapping gamblers for ransom, including Ryan and Weinbrenner. The gangs made the situation so tenuous for gamblers that the four men left Detroit. Jack Ryan went to San Diego where he died in 1930. Weinbrenner went to Squaw Valley and operated the Christiana Club. Sullivan and Fitzgerald went to Reno and operated the Nevada Club. Wirthheimer went to LA and Palm Springs, his brothers to Cleveland and Florida. Everyone got involved in Las Vegas. Weinbrenner also operated the B.C. Wills Co out of Detroit for many years. This company manufactured gambling equipment, dice, etc, which it sold to the Vegas casinos. None of these men went to prison, though all of them were arrested and went through jury trials but were acquitted, or paid fines.