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🍦 This Cincinnatian Was the Inspiration for the Great Gatsby! Here’s The Wild True Story of George Remus.

🍦 This Cincinnatian Was the Inspiration for the Great Gatsby! Here’s The Wild True Story of George Remus.

PLUS fun events this week, Stalone's new movies, new restaurant in Fort Thomas, and developments defining the downtown Cinc

Mitko Karshovski
March 05, 2024

Happy March, Scoopers!

It officially feels like spring out there and we’re stoked about it, few things better than Spring in Cincy am I right?

This is a great time to dust off those hiking boots 🥾 and enjoy the nice weather on one of Cincinnati’s awesome nature trails. We put together a quick list of our favorites on Instagram.

In today’s we explore the ‘almost-too-wild-to-be-true-but-is-totally-true’ tale of George Remus - the Cincinnatian who was the inspiration behind The Great Gatsby.

But first…

🍦 MINI SCOOPS

🔬 Sylvester Stalone is filming 2 movies in Cincinnati this summer: “Alarum” a Mr. and Mrs. Smith-esq action, and “The Epiphany” a detective mystery.

🍿 2024 Drive-in movies: Amelia’s Starlite Drive-In has announced its spring movie lineup.

🚨 New restaurant alert: The owners of Incline Public House are opening a new restaurant in Fort Thomas called The Green Line Kitchen & Cocktails.

🏗️ Future Cincy: The 16 developments shaping the future of Downtown Cincinnati ($)

$200m renovations start next year to the Duke Energy Center to help attract more large events to the Tri-State area
Mercantile Center, Textile Building, former Macy’s HQ, and the Carew Tower, and PNC Tower are all slated to be redesigned into (mixed-use) apartment buildings
Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame opens this July at the Banks

🍻 Bockfest 2024: Our favorite photos from this year’s festival

💥 PROFILE

This Cincinnatian Was the Inspiration for the Great Gatsby! Here’s The Wild True Story of George Remus.

George Remus, The King of Bootleggers

In 1918, a young college dropout named Francis Scott Fitzgerald was stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor located a few miles outside Louisville.

Fitzgerald was known to routinely sneak out of the camp and visit the now-famous Seelback Hotel for a drink. This is where he most likely met George Remus for the first time - the man who would inspire his most famous book, The Great Gatsby.

Before the passing of the Volstead Act in 1919 which officially started Prohibition in the US, George Remus was already a wealthy lawyer in Chicago and had made a name for himself after pioneering the “temporary insanity” plea.

However, after the start of Prohibition, he noticed that many of his mob clients started making huge amounts of money through bootlegging, or the illegal sale of alcohol.

Remus saw it as an opportunity to grow his own fortune.

Using his legal training he memorized the entirety of the Volstead Act and found a loophole that allowed the production of alcohol for religious or medicinal purposes.

This was fortunate for Remus because before becoming a lawyer he worked as a pharmacist and even bought his own pharmacy in 1898 at the young age of 21.

Remus decided to move to Cincinnati and start his bootlegging empire here because 80% of whiskey distillers were located within a 300-mile radius of the city.

He quickly started acquiring distilleries (now out of business) and pharmaceutical companies. This gave him direct control over both the production and distribution of his “medicinal” alcohol.

Remus would then hire small bands of mobsters who would intercept the trucks of alcohol on the way to their destination, “steal” the booze, and then sell it for on the black market for massive profit.

And when I say massive profit, I mean MASSIVE!

Within a few years, Remus became one of the wealthiest Cincinnati citizens and owned a huge mansion known as Marble Palace in what is today Price Hill.

Remus’ Marble Palace // source: bobbatchelor.com

He would throw lavish parties that were frequented by Cincinnati socialites. He famously hosted a New Year’s Eve party in 1921 with 200+ guests and as parting gifts he presented all the men with diamond tie pins and all the women with brand-new cars!

However, his bootlegging empire didn’t last long.

By 1925, George Remus’ bootlegging enterprise had caught the attention and authorities he was caught and sentenced to two years in prison in Atlanta, Georgia.

But believe it or not, this is where things get interesting in Remus’ story…

Remus’ cellmate in Atlanta was a man named Franklin Dodge. The two became friends and one evening Remus boasted to Dodge about how he had evaded the government seizing his wealth by putting all his assets under his wife’s name.

Franklin Dodge

The only problem was that Dodge was an undercover FBI agent who was there to investigate a corrupt warden.

Soon after, Dodge resigned from the FBI and headed up to Cincinnati where he began an affair with Remus’ wife Imogine. She ended up breaking apart Remus’ entire empire, including their mansion, leaving him with only $100.

After serving his sentence, Remus immediately came back to Cincinnati to exact his revenge.

What followed would capture the attention of the entire country!

On the day that Imogine was supposed to finalize their divorce, Remus waited for her to leave her house and then paid a cab driver to follow her as she drove to the Courthouse.

He chased her down and ran her off the road in Eden Park, then tracked her down on foot and in front of multiple eyewitnesses, shot and killed her near the Spring House Gazebo.

Spring House Gazebo in Eden Park

The trial was a national sensation!

The prosecution was led by none other than Charles Phelps Taft, the son of former President William Howard Taft.

Remus chose to defend himself. He leaned on Imogine’s adultery and the relationships he had built during his bootlegging days and despite many eyewitnesses testifying against Remus, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. A little nod to how he first made his name as a lawyer in Chicago.

He spent a short stint in an insane asylum but was able to prove himself not insane and earn his freedom.

Once free, Remus tried to restart his bootlegging operation but then the market was crowded and he was unsuccessful.

He moved to Covington and spent the rest of his days living a generally quiet life, working as a lawyer, and died of natural causes in 1952 at the age of 77.

📆 UPCOMING EVENTS

I’m sure that after an eventful Bockfest weekend you’re probably looking forward to some downtime with Netflix, but in case you’re ready for some more fun in the Queen City here are our top event picks for this week:

TUE Mar 5: