The History of Eden Lanes
Mannheim Tavern, owned by J. Vanicek), formerly known as The Mannheim Inn was a roadhouse that was razed to the ground by fire in 1929. In May of 1939 the opening of the new lounge named Eden was celebrated. In 1941, while under the management of Victor Malecki, the first of two additions are added to the rear of the building. This first addition includes ten bowling lanes and a cocktail lounge in 1943. Pin boys were in use until 1943. By 1951, while under the ownership of Walter E. Eckenstein, a second addition increases the total number of lanes to 20. In 1967, while under the ownership of Gus Zakos and Plato Pavis, the business undergoes a remodel that includes the installation of a TV antenna tower to receive the broadcast of sporting events. The tower no longer exists. A few of the bowling instructors through the years were Carl Berger 1952-1956 and Earl Fenimore 1968. The location saw the likes of Dell Coon and his Sympho-Swing Orchestra in 1939, the Diplomats of Rhythm in 1941, and Sam the Accordion Man in 1962.
~~~ Thank you Rob Verber for the history lesson and the photos. ~~~ (There is more history below the pictures.)
~~~ Thank you Rob Verber for the history lesson and the photos. ~~~ (There is more history below the pictures.)
Officer Edward Pflaume
Eighty-seven years ago just before Christmas on December 13, 1925 a tragic event took place in the history of the Village and its police department.
Forest Park Officer Edward Pflaume – (German sir name and pronounced “Plum” in English), badge number 212, was murdered in the line of duty. Officer Pflaume was twenty-nine years old at the time of his demise. He was a member of the Forest Park Police Department for about a year, having previously served as an officer in neighboring River Forest. Officer Pflaume was a veteran of World War I, a member of the Forest Park Foreign Legion Post and husband of only three months to his pregnant wife, Dorothy.
According to newspaper reports of the day, at approximately 4pm on December 13, 1925, Officer Pflaume was alerted to an armed robbery by Mr. John Joyce of 7742 Monroe Street. Mr. Joyce was the operator of an ice cream truck traveling on Madison Street near the Desplaines River, when a man jumped onto his running board, brandished a gun and robbed him of sixty dollars.
A vehicle matching the description of the getaway car used in the commission of the robbery was reported to be at a roadhouse in unincorporated Proviso Township called the “Mannheim Tavern.” There is no precise documentation of how the officers were alerted to the gunmen’s hide out. At that time the Mannheim Tavern was located in what was farm country. The Mannheim Tavern’s remote location nestled in between corn fields and woods made it a suitable lair for any criminal who was on the “lam” from the law.
By all accounts, the Mannheim Tavern is still standing today. However, much has changed in eighty-seven years and it is better known in modern times as Eden Bowling lanes located at 10159 West Cermak Road, (unincorporated Proviso Township) Westchester.
Officer Pflaume along with Forest Park Officer Jacobs, Chief of Police Charles Jones of Berkeley, and Bellwood Police Officer McBride went to the Mannheim Tavern in search of the robbery offender. It is unclear why officers from Bellwood and Berkeley accompanied Officer Pflaume and Officer Jacobs although, in the 1920’s resources were scarce and it was not uncommon to only have one or two officers on duty protecting the entire village at any given time; requiring department’s to depend heavily on neighboring agencies for assistance. Thus the hypothesis as to why the other agencies would have been assisting Forest Park.
Officer Pflaume and Officer McBride entered the Mannheim Tavern through the back door. The other two officers entered the business through the front doors. Inside the roadhouse Officer Pflaume started questioning two men and two women sitting at a table. The exact accounts of what happened next are not clear, but one of the suspects brandished a .45 cal gun and shot Officer Pflaume in the abdomen. A gunfight between the lawmen and the assailants ensued. When the smoke cleared Officer Pflaume lay on the tavern floor wounded and Officer McBride suffered a graze wound to his face. One gunmen, Jimmie Johnston, was shot dead at the scene and the other gunman fled on foot into the near by woods.
Officer Pflaume was rushed to Speedway Hospital, the current site of Edward Hines Jr. / Loyola Hospital, where a few hours later he passed from this life with his pregnant wife seated at his bedside.
Police searched the wooded area near the roadhouse looking for Officer Pflaume’s murderer. A tracking dog from the Elmhurst Police Department along with airplanes scoured the woods looking for the perpetrator, but the suspect managed to slip through the police dragnet.
Bertha Zimmerman and Gertude Bennett, both from Chicago were the two women who where in the company of the gunmen. Both where held and questioned by Forest Park Police Chief Fred W. Licht, Village Attorney Walter W.L. Meyer, Sergeant Harry Zimmerman, and Sergeant Edward Schultz.
The suspect in the officer’s murder was later identified as a known criminal, ne’er-do-well and an overall blight on society. The murderer’s name was William Jack “Three Fingers” White. White was a reported member of the notorious Al Capone organization and declared a public enemy by the Chicago Crime Commission’s first published report in 1923. Police labeled him as the “toughest gunman in Chicago.”
White was eventually captured and brought to trial for the officer’s murder. “Three Fingers” White was found guilty of the murder of Officer Pflaume and on January 21st, 1927 he was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Philip Sullivan. The Illinois State Supreme Court later overturned the conviction and White was granted a new trial. In a strange twist of events the State’s star witness in the second trial, Bellwood Officer McBride, [now a sergeant] was shot at while riding a street car in Maywood just weeks before the new trial was set to begin. It was suspected “Three Fingers” White was attempting to silence Sergeant McBride before the start of the second trial.
Sergeant McBride survived the attack and testified at White’s second trial. Again, White was found guilty of the officer’s murder and sentenced to prison. However, on February 25th 1929, the court overturned the second conviction. For unknown reasons the State did not pursue a third trial for White. In May of 1932 the Cook County State’s Attorney decided to “nolle prossed” or not to prosecute the case. It was suspected that because of White’s association with Al Capone’s criminal empire the “fix was in” at both trails to ensure that a miscarriage of justice would occur.
Like any nefarious character, White was killed on January 23rd 1934 in a third floor apartment at 920 Wesley Avenue in Oak Park. Much hypothesis swirled as to who the offender’s were in White’s murder. Theories in the case included suspects from the famous Murray Humphries to members of the Touhy gang. According to reports White’s funeral could be best described as uneventful. White was buried in Mt. Carmel in Hillside next to other gangsters of the era.
~~~ Courtesy of The Forest Park Police Department Website
Eighty-seven years ago just before Christmas on December 13, 1925 a tragic event took place in the history of the Village and its police department.
Forest Park Officer Edward Pflaume – (German sir name and pronounced “Plum” in English), badge number 212, was murdered in the line of duty. Officer Pflaume was twenty-nine years old at the time of his demise. He was a member of the Forest Park Police Department for about a year, having previously served as an officer in neighboring River Forest. Officer Pflaume was a veteran of World War I, a member of the Forest Park Foreign Legion Post and husband of only three months to his pregnant wife, Dorothy.
According to newspaper reports of the day, at approximately 4pm on December 13, 1925, Officer Pflaume was alerted to an armed robbery by Mr. John Joyce of 7742 Monroe Street. Mr. Joyce was the operator of an ice cream truck traveling on Madison Street near the Desplaines River, when a man jumped onto his running board, brandished a gun and robbed him of sixty dollars.
A vehicle matching the description of the getaway car used in the commission of the robbery was reported to be at a roadhouse in unincorporated Proviso Township called the “Mannheim Tavern.” There is no precise documentation of how the officers were alerted to the gunmen’s hide out. At that time the Mannheim Tavern was located in what was farm country. The Mannheim Tavern’s remote location nestled in between corn fields and woods made it a suitable lair for any criminal who was on the “lam” from the law.
By all accounts, the Mannheim Tavern is still standing today. However, much has changed in eighty-seven years and it is better known in modern times as Eden Bowling lanes located at 10159 West Cermak Road, (unincorporated Proviso Township) Westchester.
Officer Pflaume along with Forest Park Officer Jacobs, Chief of Police Charles Jones of Berkeley, and Bellwood Police Officer McBride went to the Mannheim Tavern in search of the robbery offender. It is unclear why officers from Bellwood and Berkeley accompanied Officer Pflaume and Officer Jacobs although, in the 1920’s resources were scarce and it was not uncommon to only have one or two officers on duty protecting the entire village at any given time; requiring department’s to depend heavily on neighboring agencies for assistance. Thus the hypothesis as to why the other agencies would have been assisting Forest Park.
Officer Pflaume and Officer McBride entered the Mannheim Tavern through the back door. The other two officers entered the business through the front doors. Inside the roadhouse Officer Pflaume started questioning two men and two women sitting at a table. The exact accounts of what happened next are not clear, but one of the suspects brandished a .45 cal gun and shot Officer Pflaume in the abdomen. A gunfight between the lawmen and the assailants ensued. When the smoke cleared Officer Pflaume lay on the tavern floor wounded and Officer McBride suffered a graze wound to his face. One gunmen, Jimmie Johnston, was shot dead at the scene and the other gunman fled on foot into the near by woods.
Officer Pflaume was rushed to Speedway Hospital, the current site of Edward Hines Jr. / Loyola Hospital, where a few hours later he passed from this life with his pregnant wife seated at his bedside.
Police searched the wooded area near the roadhouse looking for Officer Pflaume’s murderer. A tracking dog from the Elmhurst Police Department along with airplanes scoured the woods looking for the perpetrator, but the suspect managed to slip through the police dragnet.
Bertha Zimmerman and Gertude Bennett, both from Chicago were the two women who where in the company of the gunmen. Both where held and questioned by Forest Park Police Chief Fred W. Licht, Village Attorney Walter W.L. Meyer, Sergeant Harry Zimmerman, and Sergeant Edward Schultz.
The suspect in the officer’s murder was later identified as a known criminal, ne’er-do-well and an overall blight on society. The murderer’s name was William Jack “Three Fingers” White. White was a reported member of the notorious Al Capone organization and declared a public enemy by the Chicago Crime Commission’s first published report in 1923. Police labeled him as the “toughest gunman in Chicago.”
White was eventually captured and brought to trial for the officer’s murder. “Three Fingers” White was found guilty of the murder of Officer Pflaume and on January 21st, 1927 he was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Philip Sullivan. The Illinois State Supreme Court later overturned the conviction and White was granted a new trial. In a strange twist of events the State’s star witness in the second trial, Bellwood Officer McBride, [now a sergeant] was shot at while riding a street car in Maywood just weeks before the new trial was set to begin. It was suspected “Three Fingers” White was attempting to silence Sergeant McBride before the start of the second trial.
Sergeant McBride survived the attack and testified at White’s second trial. Again, White was found guilty of the officer’s murder and sentenced to prison. However, on February 25th 1929, the court overturned the second conviction. For unknown reasons the State did not pursue a third trial for White. In May of 1932 the Cook County State’s Attorney decided to “nolle prossed” or not to prosecute the case. It was suspected that because of White’s association with Al Capone’s criminal empire the “fix was in” at both trails to ensure that a miscarriage of justice would occur.
Like any nefarious character, White was killed on January 23rd 1934 in a third floor apartment at 920 Wesley Avenue in Oak Park. Much hypothesis swirled as to who the offender’s were in White’s murder. Theories in the case included suspects from the famous Murray Humphries to members of the Touhy gang. According to reports White’s funeral could be best described as uneventful. White was buried in Mt. Carmel in Hillside next to other gangsters of the era.
~~~ Courtesy of The Forest Park Police Department Website
