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The Turf Club operated from about 1941 until closed in 1967. The bar was the source of several gambling raids and was identified by the Kefauver Committee as focal point for gambling in Elmwood Place along with the Belmont Club and Valley Cigar. In 1965 a minister's association asked Elmwood Place City Council to shut down several joints including the Turf Club because of gambling and violence during the year. Two deaths took place at the Turf Club in 1965 including a stomping of a "patron" and the shooting of another by the owner, Jim Nummelley. Nunnelley was exonerated by the Grand Jury which held the shooting as self defense. In 1967 the club was closed permanently after the State Liquor Control refused to renew the cafe license. The building was torn down in about 2008.
In the back of the building was a seperate small room that operated as the Locust Sports Center and housed horse boards and some poker operations. I'm not sure of the dates for when the Locust Sports Center operated, but I'm sure it was there in 1959.
Chips have been authenticated for the Valley Cigar Store, the Linden Bar and the EVA, all located in Elmwood PLace. We have never found evidence of chips from the Turf Club or the Locust.
Jim Linduff
R6210
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