This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Did Al Capone Ever Visit Imperial Beach?

Many facts point to the possibility gangster Al Capone spent time in imperial Beach.

It is well known that Al Capone built a fortress just south of Rosarito in the late 1920's as a party house for his friends from Hollywood. The Castle is know known as "El Castillo Restaurant". It is also known that Al Capone was involved in a yacht club and casino built on the Los Coronados Islands offshore of Imperial Beach.

Al Capone owned a fleet of Ford Model "A" delivery trucks each painted with the company name "Jake's Moving Company." Model A Fords had a fuel capacity of 11 gallons of gasoline. It is approximately 136 miles from Los Angeles to Rosarito. Ford Model "A" trucks had a rating of 24 miles to the gallon of fuel.

Therefore, a trip from LA would nessessitate a refueling before completing a round trip to Rosarito and back. It would seem likely that the greatest number of gas stations in the 1920's were north of the border. Route 5 did not exist at that time.

Find out what's happening in Imperial Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Would Al Capone have refueled in Imperial Beach and spent time here? Maybe some of our senior citizens could provide additional information on what the area was like during that period of time?  

One lady from Ensenada stated that Al Capone frequented a restaurant there known as "Fleur de Italia".

Find out what's happening in Imperial Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?