City Plan

Driving back from Tennessee, Amy and I had our eyes caught by a street sign we had each seen thousands of time before, but never mentioned to company we did not think would share our curiosity.

"Touhy Avenue - what kind of a name is Touhy? Do you think that's French, with the o-u-h? . . . What do you think Miss Bachelor's-in-Linguistics?"

Amy cocked her head to the side.

"Could be. Could actually also be Polish, there are a few Polish words with that ending . . . wikipedia?"

"Wikipedia."

A quick wiki search of "Touhy" proved us both wrong: Touhy was an Irish name. Roger Touhy was an old-fashioned ganster with quite the bio: he was a rival to Capone powerful enough that Capone helped frame Touhy for kidnapping a wealthy businessman (and secret mob member's) brother and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Why Capone decided to frame Touhy for a crime he didn't commit rather than find a way to get him sent to prison for the many crimes he did commit is a mystery to me. 

Eight years after being sentenced, Touhy made a daring escape.

Three months after that he was caught and sentenced to 199 years for the escape.

Two years after that, Touhy's story was turned into a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox (Roger Touhy: Gangster).

Ten years after that, the frame-up was revealed and Touhy was freed.

Fifty hours after that, Touhy was sent back to jail because of a legal technicality (the jurisdiction of the court that approved his appeal was questioned).

Three years after that, the governor stepped in and Touhy walked on parole.

Twenty-three days after that, Touhy was gunned down by mob hit-men.

As fascinating as Touhy's story was, I had trouble believing a street in Chicago would be named after one of its most notorious gangsters. There was, after all, no Capone Street I was aware of. Was he awarded his namesake as some sort of token apology from the state? Amy had the keyboard. I asked her to search "Touhy Avenue" instead of just "Touhy," just in case. Amy was convinced the case was closed, but after a little cajoling, pitter-pat went the home row.

Touhy Avenue was not named for Roger Touhy. It was named for Patrick Touhy, "a subdivider who was also the son-in-law of Philip Rogers, an early settler who helped develop Rogers Park." Patrick Touhy's name, despite all his accomplishments, was not written in the glory of blue hypertext, and the site that contained his name was not an "article," as Roger Touhy received, but rather a "stub." Patrick got the street, but Roger's ghost is far more alive.