Blue and Gold Kennel Club Speakeasy
Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California
Marker Inscription
Blue and Gold Kennel Club This eighteen-room farmhouse was built by Nicholas Kristmas in 1924. By 1928, it had entered into an era of local infamy, during which it was known alternatively by the names Blue and Gold Kennel Club, Whitehall Distillery, and Burton's Gold Medal Distillery. The house featured two bars in the basement, one for ordinary patrons and a second which featured a ballroom for elite clientele. Secret passageways and peep holes allowed curious onlookers to spy on the salacious activities that went on behind closed doors. A casino occupying the third floor had an armed gunman stationed on a platform by the window, watching for police. Alcohol was distilled in the carriage house behind the main house. Drinks were served in the speakeasy and at its greyhound race track, where dog racing scores were broadcast to bookies across the country through an extensive system of antennae. The speakeasy was shut down in 1933 when authorities arrested then-owner George Tex White, an alleged gangster from Chicago, for running an illegal gambling establishment. White sold the property in 1935, only to buy it back again two years later. This disreputable era finally came to an end in 1938 when a shooting occurred on the property, causing federal authorities to seize the property and put it up for auction. It has since become a private residence. Dedicated on October 13, 2018 by Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850 E Clampus Vitus with Irwin and Gilda S. Wunderman "Right wrongs nobody"
Erected by E Clampus Vitus, Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850
The Story
Built as an eighteen-room farmhouse in 1924, this house slid into local infamy during Prohibition as the Blue and Gold Kennel Club — a speakeasy, casino, and distillery hidden behind respectable walls. Secret passages, basement bars, a third-floor casino with an armed lookout, and even a greyhound track wired to bookies nationwide made it a hub of illicit nightlife. Raids, an arrest of its gangster owner, and finally a 1938 shooting brought the federal government down on the property and ended its outlaw era.
Why it matters
The house captures the wild underside of Prohibition-era America, when ordinary buildings became fronts for bootlegging, gambling, and organized crime.
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Related people
- · Nicholas Kristmas
- · George Tex White
Related events
- · Prohibition
Themes & tags
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Blue and Gold Kennel Club
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