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| September vote banned liquor sales here |
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| Question: Were there ever saloons on the Harrison square? What about package stores? |
| Answer: March of 1886 was the oldest date I could find proving that liquor stores did exist on the Harrison Square - but in all likelihood, some existed years earlier. |
| In March, W. J. Bobo moved his Liquor Saloon to the building on the south side of the square that had been occupied by Miles James. About the same time, William Armstrong sold his interest in the Liquor Saloon to his former partner, Dr. Gipson, and went into the stock business. |
| Prohibitionists had some success even before national prohibition. Three states had already outlawed alcohol - by 1912, it was up to nine states and, by 1916, legal prohibition was already in effect in 26 of the 48 states. |
| Because of the success of the local option campaign, in 1916, on the eve of the passage of a law by the Arkansas Legislature prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the state, only four towns operated with open saloons. By 1919, there were 43 dry counties and 32 wet counties in Arkansas. Prohibition officially began on January 16, 1920 when the 18th Amendment went into effect, later to be repealed by the 21st Amendment! |
| A drive began on June 22, 1932, by undercover prohibition agents, that resulted in the arrest of eight men. Most of those men were old offenders of the liquor law and in most every house where the raids were conducted, a quantity of home brew and whiskey was confiscated. Prohibition agents W. F. Ledbetter and Milton Warren were assisted by City Policemen Rufus Adair and Bruce Wilcox. |
| According to the Harrison Times, after officers searched one house where a quantity of home brew was found, the man and his wife engaged in a fight with the officers, attempting to destroy the evidence. The man sustained slight injuries from a blow to the head. Officers found a 10-gallon keg of beer and placed the man under arrest. He grabbed the keg and tried to empty the beer, and when he reached for a shotgun, he received the blow to the head. So times were pretty exciting for City Policemen in 1932! |
| In July 1933, Arkansas became one of the first southern states to ratify the 21st Amendment - nevertheless, Arkansas remained dry until a desperate need for new revenue during the Depression compelled the 1935 session of the legislature to repeal the state prohibition laws. Local option elections continued to fracture Arkansas into the generally wet eastern region and a dry north and west sections. When I refer to "dry," it is a well known fact that liquor was always available, just sold secretly, padding the pockets of the bootleggers! |
| Effie Jones, proprietor of a café on West Stephenson, caused quite a stir on March 14, 1935, when she served native wine of 14 per cent in her café - a few days ahead of the legalization of hard liquors. She brought in a shipment of 50 gallons of port and dry wine from the Nelson Winery of Springdale and placed it on sale. She had obtained both federal and state permits for retail sale. |
| The novelty of legal wine caused a brisk trade at the café since only one license had been applied for in Harrison. The wine was sold in bottles only and the contents had to be consumed on the premises by the purchaser. 25 to 35 ounces sold for fifty cents. When Governor Futrell signed the Thorn bill, it resulted in full strength beer being dispensed under the 3.2 licenses. It also resulted in package sales at two local drug stores! |
| In August 1941, a dispatch from Little Rock stated that three Boone County taxpayers had appealed to the State Supreme Court in Arkansas in an effort to have reversed, the action of the lower court in approving the validity of the petition for holding a special election in Boone County on September 9th, to vote on the sale of hard liquor in the county. September 4th, judges and clerks where chosen for the election of the liquor question! The state head of the Anti-Saloon League spoke at the court park and others went to various communities seeking support. Ads ran in the newspaper stating that Harrison would become a "Bootleggers' Haven" if legal liquor was voted out. Ads said if the U. S. Government could not enforce prohibition with all the resources that had, then how could Harrison and Boone County with one sheriff and three policemen enforce the Thorn Act! |
| It rained on Election Day - and up to noon, it was an unusually light vote but a heavy turn out was expected late in the day. September 10th headlines read: "Boone County Rejects Legal Sale of Hard Liquor." Only the precincts of Batavia, Bear Creek, Bryan, Crooked Creek, Jackson, Omaha, Summit, and Sugar Loaf had more votes "for" than "against." On December 30, 1941, it was announced that the four liquor stores in Harrison would close the following Wednesday. |
| In searching for pictures in the Museum's archives that might show liquor stores, we could find only one, and it simply shows a sign of Blatz Beer being sold on the north side of the square. Many people have told me of businesses, such as the Green Castle Café selling beer and one liquor store that was located near the alley on the south side of the square. Recreation parlors also had a reputation for having ˝ pints available for their customers. If you have a snapshot that might show a liquor or beer business on the square, please share a copy with the museum - after all, it is a part of our town's history. |
| The Heritage Museum is located on the corner of South Cherry Street and Central Ave. Hours are from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. We strive to preserve the history of Boone County and its people. |
| This column appears Fridays in the Harrison Daily Times. Mail questions to Boone County Heritage Museum, P. O. Box 1094, Harrison, AR 72601. Marilyn Smith can be contacted at bchm@windstream.net |
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