Son of civic leader and prominent physician John P. Wall, Charlie Wall took a turn toward the dark side at an early age. As a teen and young adult, he immersed himself in Ft. Brooke City, a shanty town of gambling, drugs, and bawdy houses on the site of the former military post. By the 1920s, Wall was a gangster of stature, running the bolita (illegal lottery) racket locally until he was displaced by the Sicilian Mafia. Wall survived several mob "hits" but was finally murdered at home in 1955.
