Dry Counties: Prohibition Counties in the US Today
Dry counties are those that forbid the sale of alcoholic beverages in some form. Hundreds of dry counties exist across the US. And about 18,000,000 people live in dry areas. Thus, about 6% of the the people in the US live in the roughly 10% of the area that is dry.
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Local Option Laws. (includes list of dry townships and towns in the US.)
The U.S. repealedNational Prohibition in 1933. However, a large proportion of the population continued to support prohibition. Following Repeal some states chose to maintained their own state-wide prohibition. Others permitted local jurisdictions to decide the matter within their own borders. The latter is local option.
Local Option
Local option areas are usually counties. But many are townships, towns, cities, or even justice of the peace districts. For example, there are 129 dry towns and villages in Alaska. Moreover, in thirty-two of these communities the mere possession of alcohol is a crime. And hundreds of other dry townships exist in the United States. Surprisingly, some exist within wet counties.
Kentucky has 120 counties. Fifty-five are completely dry. Thirty are wet. In addition, the remaining 35 counties are “moist.” That is, they fall somewhere between.
Certain counties allow the sale of alcoholic beverages by the drink on golf courses located in dry counties.
Some wineries legally operate within dry counties.
16 cities within dry counties allow restaurants above a specified size to serve drinks.
Today, almost one-half of the counties in Mississippi are dry. They have their own prohibition against the production, advertising, sale, distribution, or transportation of alcoholic beverages within their boundaries. It is even illegal to bring alcohol through a dry county in Mississippi while traveling.
The reason for such a high proportion of dry counties is clear. Mississippi is uniquely temperance-oriented. Mississippi imposed state-wide alcohol prohibition in 1907. That was over a dozen years before the rest of the country. It was the very first state to ratify the 18th Amendment to create National Prohibition. Following national rejection of Prohibition through Repeal, the state maintained its own state-wide prohibition for another one-third of a century. After that, it specifically ‘reaffirmed prohibition’ when it decided to permit local option regarding alcohol.
Of Texas’ 254 counties, 74 are completely dry and many of the rest are moist. The patchwork of laws can be confusing, even to residents. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram marveled at the complexity. For example, in some counties, only 4 percent beer is legal. In others, beverages that are 14 percent or less alcohol are legal. Yet in some “dry” areas, you can get a mixed drink by paying to join a “private club.” And in some “wet” areas you still need a club membership to get liquor-by-the-drink.
The newspaper demonstrates how variable the alcohol laws can be, even within small geographic areas.
“Move from Fort Worth to Arlington and you’ll be surprised that you can buy beer but not wine at the grocery store. Move to Grand Prairie and you can’t even find beer there, but you can buy alcoholic drinks at restaurants in both towns. Then move to Burleson, which has alcohol sales in the Tarrant County portion of the city but not in the Johnson County side of town.”
Yes, Virginia, National Prohibition was a Disaster
In addition, many counties and municipalities in the US are dry on Sunday or part of Sunday. Specifically, that day is the Sabbath for most Christians. In fact, this is a result of Colonial-era Blue Laws. Of course, they were made to promote Christianity.