The decision to shoot parts of the film in Wisconsin came about because of the number of high quality historic buildings . Mann , who had been a student at University of Wisconsin – Madison , scouted locations in Baraboo and Columbus as well as looking at 1930s-era cars from collectors in the Madison area . In addition , the film was shot on actual historical sites , including the Little Bohemia Lodge , and the old Lake County jail in Crown Point , Indiana , where Dillinger staged his most famous escape where legend has it he fooled jail officers with a wooden gun and escaped in the sheriff 's car . Scenes were shot at places that he frequented in Oshkosh . The courthouse in Darlington is the location for the courthouse scenes . A bank robbery scene was shot inside the Milwaukee County Historical Society , a former bank in Milwaukee that still has much of the original period architecture
Little Bohemia Lodge
Little Bohemia Lodge
Public Enemies (2009 film)