It was a deadly rivalry that shaped the Wonder Bar. In 1927, the infamous mobster Al Capone began pressuring rivals Roger “The Terrible” Touhy and Matt Kolb to become partners with him. When the Touhy gang refused, Capone opened several houses of prostitution in Touhy territory, sparking a gang war, according to a draft city landmark nomination for the Wonder Bar submitted by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation in late 2008.
-Wisconsin State Journal