Southport Hall - A Brief History Joe Hyland, one of New Orleans' two earliest gambling kingpins, started his career in his teens. Chartered social clubs had a long tradition in the Crescent City, and often served as fronts for illegal gambling operations and later for illegal liquor speakeasys during prohibition. Hyland opened the Southport Inn operations at the turn of the century, just a few blocks from New Orleans city limits in Jefferson Parish, 9001 Oak, at River Road. Games of chance in the "Free State of Jefferson" included roulette, craps, horse book, poker and black jack, the lottery, keno, and a bank card game called "Kotch," were played at Hyland's Southport. Once raided by the Louisiana National Guard in 1915, Hyland's Southport catered to an exclusive clientele, including high ranking government and law enforcement officials. Hyland brought two kids, brothers Rudy and George O'Dwyer, into the operation. The name was later changed to the Southport Club and sold to the O'Dwyers. They sold it to Charlie Kerner around 1916 and re-named it the Old Southport Club. The New Southport Club is located in Jefferson Parish, just outside the city limits of New Orleans, off River Road. Once owned by Carlos Marcello, who the Times Picayune newspaper called "the purported organized crime king of New Orleans," the New Southport Club was an illegal casino and nightspot in the 1930s to the 1950s. It is the only gambling building that has survived in a 3 block area and has been refurbished as the Southport Hall, a night club. The New Southport Hall is the perfect place to experience ambiance and great music.