Newport Gangster Tour

The casinos were each bringing at least $1 million per month. Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin could be found at local craps tables, Marilyn Monroe was singing at various venues and Bob Hope dined at the local chili parlor. Gangsters were pulling the strings from the shadows, and the media christened the town Sin City. 

Had things continued unabated, Elvis could have had a hit called “Viva Newport” because in the late 1950s, the mob was building Newport, Kentucky, into a cauldron of sin and vice. Everything was coming up aces, until the gangsters went a step too far. 

Their attempt to frame a reform-minded candidate for sheriff was so ill-executed that a judge nearly laughed the case out of his courtroom. The candidate had law-enforcement connections, and soon the city, state and federal authorities came crashing down to boot the gangsters out of town. They picked up their casinos — some with names like The Flamingo, Tropicana and Jockey Club — and left, settling down instead in the growing western city of Las Vegas. Newport was a prototype of sorts for the now-famous Nevada gambling destination, and author Mario Puzo is said to have gotten source material for his novel The Godfather — the basis for the Francis Ford Coppola film — from research done in Newport. 

American Legacy Tours walks its customers through downtown Newport to learn all about this fascinating history. You’ll see what’s left of the casinos — modest by modern standards — where the Rat Pack gambled and learn how young U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy started a war on legalized crime to send the gangsters packing. You may even learn that shipments of Cincinnati chili are sent to Las Vegas, ordered by those connected to the former residents of Newport. 1332 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202, 859/951-8560, americanlegacytours.com