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Capone's cabin rumor persists

The claim about the West Pasco cabin, which may be more hype than fact, has been dismissed by historians and previous residents of the property.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published April 25, 2005

MOON LAKE - In the back corner of a dusty construction site, sandwiched between the concrete skeletons of two apartment buildings, sits a tiny cabin that holds a lot of intrigue.

The cabin isn't much to look at now: White shingles cover the original cypress planks. Half the windows are boarded up. The whole thing sits on cinder blocks.

But as legend has it, in its heyday this hunting cabin served as a hideaway for the notorious Chicago-land gangster Al Capone.

The claim has been dismissed by historians and previous residents of the property off State Road 52, just east of Moon Lake Road, but the rumor persists.

Now the company developing the site wants Pasco County to place the cabin on its list of historic places, in part because of the mythology.

"It's just a plus for us in terms of preserving it, and it helps in terms of marketing," said Fred Anderson, one of the partners of L.H. Development, the company building The Lodge at Hudson, a 168-unit assisted living facility on the property.

"It has a mystique."

Anderson is the first to admit the Capone link is unlikely. The 1,200-square-foot cypress cabin was built around 1945, when the gangster's failing health kept him close to his Palm Island home.

But it's possible some of his shady associates might have used it, according to Panamerican Consultants Inc., an architectural history firm hired by L.H. Development.

Mafia types, including Capone, were rumored to frequent the nearby Moon Lake Gardens and Dude Ranch, an opulent retreat that featured illicit casinos and a hunting preserve stocked with exotic game.

Of course they always went under assumed names.

Capone was careful to hide his connections to the properties used by himself or his associates, so "it would be quite difficult to establish that link (to the cabin) based on public records," Panamerican Consultants reported.

Holly Sliz doubts the cabin was ever used by outlaws. Her grandparents, Robert and Mary Spindler, owned the property from 1952 to 1987.

The Dunn family of St. Petersburg built the cabin and used the surrounding woods for Boy Scout camping trips, she said. The Spindlers bought it from the Dunns, first for use as a farm, and later as their home.

Sliz lived in the cabin from 1972 to 1973 while her parents' house was being built next door.

"The beautiful cypress wood and that stone fireplace - you don't see that type of structure any more," she said.

What about Al Capone?

"It sounds good," she said, chuckling, "but it's not really true."

So why does the rumor persist?

Local historian Bill Dayton said a man who once worked at the Moon Lake Gardens and Dude Ranch later told people Capone was a visitor. Sliz suspects people began associating Capone with the nearby cabin because it had the same kind of cypress walls and limestone fireplace as the ritzy ranch.

"It's not inconceivable that after he got out of prison (in 1939, Capone) wanted a nice quiet hideaway for a little while," Dayton said. "West Pasco certainly would have fit the bill in those days."

But the West Pasco Historical Society has found no proof Capone was ever here, curator Midge London-Prace said. Still, she said, people love the juicy piece of folklore.

"It's a little bit exaggerated, but it's a lovely thing," London-Prace said. "We don't discourage it, but there really isn't any proof he was here."

This year L.H. Development moved the cabin to another part of the property to make way for the assisted living facility. The developer plans to restore the cabin and use it as a community building, at a cost of about $50,000, Anderson said.

"We didn't have the heart to tear it down," he said.

If it makes the county's list of historic places, he said, the developer would add a plaque about the cabin's history, both real and rumored.

The rest of the complex is borrowing from the cabin theme. The brand new clubhouse features cypress siding and a flagstone fireplace. An antler chandelier will hang in the foyer. Patches of stone will cover the apartment buildings.

The first residents will move in June 1.

Anderson said jokingly that they didn't find any artifacts, bones or blocks of cash when moving the cabin across the property.

Then he stopped and smiled.

"We haven't been in the attic yet."

--Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 25, 2005, 01:04:14]