When people think of mobsters and bootlegging, Omaha may not be the first place you think of, but upcoming tours of Omaha's history will shine a light on the seedy underbelly of the metro.
JJ Bell with Excite Experiences say they are offering three Omaha Mob Tours over the next three Mondays in November. He says their travel agency received a lot of interest in Omaha history, but they wanted to make the tours fun and educational. "We really had the idea because we had some people that were interested in a little bit of history, but they wanted to have some fun with the tour too. So we created the Mob Tour."
Bell says the tours will take participants through parts of Omaha's wild past with bootlegging, mobsters and houses of ill repute, all while teaching about some of our city's lesser known history. "You think of Al Capone from Chicago, New York and San Francisco, but really Al Capone spent tie in Omaha. He spent time at the Flatiron building."
Not only will the tour touch on famous mobsters like Capone, but also men like Tom Dennison, Omaha's own political boss. "Tom Dennison was really the mobster that controlled the city at the time and what kind of things happened, how news stories that got written."
Tour highlights will include stops at Little Italy, the Old Market, St. Cecilia's Cathedral, Omaha's Gold Coast and a modern day speakeasy. Although the three tours in November are sold out, Bell says more tours are planned for next year, even as soon as January.
You can find more details here.