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Famous Residents -- East
Charlie Birger, infamous head of the Birger Gang, was born in Russia in the 1880s. His family moved to the United States in 1887 and he was raised in St. Louis. He served in the army before moving to Harrisburg in the early 1920s. Birger owned the ultimate road house, Shady Rest, located on Highway 13 between Harrisburg and Marion. Shady Rest doubled as a hideout for Birger and his gang as well as a center for his bootlegging, gambling, and prostitution operations. The only bombs dropped in aerial warfare in America were dropped on the Shady Rest in November 1926. They were poorly constructed and failed to complete their mission. This was just one of many battles between the Birger and Shelton Gangs that gave Bloody Williamson its nickname in the 1920s. Birger eventually won the war only to come across another battle, a battle for his life. Birger was arrested on April 29, 1927, for murder and sentenced to die in July 1927. Nine months later, on April 19, 1928, Birger became the last person to die in a public hanging in Illinois. Thousands came to see the legendary Charlie Birger die.