Bullet holes from the 1926 gangland killing of Hymie Weiss remain in the cornerstone—the cathedral was the backdrop for two North Side Gang murders within two years
735 N. State St, Chicago, IL 60654
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Cathedral open to visitors; check schedule for Mass times
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalk; cathedral interior accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1875 · Dion O'Banion Murder Connection · Hymie Weiss Murder Site · Chicago Prohibition Gang Wars · Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Seat
Holy Name Cathedral was completed in 1875 on the corner of State and Superior Streets on Chicago's Near North Side, designed in a Gothic Revival style by Patrick Keely. The cornerstone dates to 1874. The cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and one of the city's significant religious landmarks.
The building's connection to organized crime is well documented. On November 10, 1924, Dion O'Banion—the head of the North Side Gang and a flower shop owner directly across State Street—was shot and killed inside his shop by three men. The killers were widely believed to be acting for Johnny Torrio and the Chicago Outfit following a dispute over a brewery buy-out; no one was convicted. O'Banion's lavish funeral, arranged in part because of his florist business, drew enormous crowds.
O'Banion's successor, bootlegger Hymie Weiss, was killed on October 11, 1926, while walking on the sidewalk adjacent to the cathedral. Gunmen positioned in a rooming house across the street fired as Weiss and his associate Patrick Murray approached. Both were hit; Weiss died at the scene, Murray shortly after. The shooting punched bullet holes into the cathedral's 1874 cornerstone that remain visible today—partially filled and faded, but identifiable. The biblical inscription on the stone (from Philippians) was partially destroyed by the gunfire.
Al Capone is reported in period accounts to have attended services at the cathedral during the Prohibition years. The cathedral has never acknowledged or addressed the paranormal claims that have attached to the building through ghost tour culture.
Sources
The paranormal folklore of Holy Name Cathedral centers almost entirely on the 1926 shooting site. The most frequently cited account involves phantom gunfire sounds on State Street, typically in the evening, described as rapid succession shots matching accounts of the Weiss killing. Ghost City Tours and other Chicago paranormal operators have documented these reports from visitors on walking tours that pass the cornerstone.
A second category of reports describes a male apparition—dressed in period clothing and described as well-groomed—appearing near the cathedral's State Street entrance or inside near the rear pews. Witnesses report the figure vanishes when approached. The description is associated in ghost tour lore with Hymie Weiss, though no compelling evidence links the specific claims to the 1926 victim.
Tony Szabelski of Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tours is among the documented sources for the auditory claims. Paranormal researcher Ursula Bielski, cited in Time Out Chicago, has referenced unexplained photography results around the cornerstone—specifically orbs of light in images taken near the bullet damage.
Staff reports of a woman crying inside the cathedral when the building is empty have circulated in ghost tour literature for at least a decade. The claim is attributed to residual haunting from the Prohibition era—mourning families of gang war dead who attended services at the cathedral—rather than to a specific identified individual.
Notable Entities
The 1874 cornerstone on the State Street facade retains visible damage from the October 11, 1926 shooting of Hymie Weiss. The spots where .45-caliber bullets struck—partially repaired, partially faded—are visible at ground level and are noted in Chicago gangland history literature. The flower shop site across State Street where Dion O'Banion was killed in 1924 is now a parking lot.
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