Dry Counties

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DRY COUNTIES

by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.

A dry county is one whose government forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages in some form. There are hundreds of dry counties across the United States. About 18,000,000 people live in the 10% of the area of the US that is dry.

Following the repeal of national Prohibition in 1933, a large proportion of the population continued to support prohibition. Some states chose to maintained their own prohibition and others permitted local jurisdictions (especially counties) to decide whether or not to continue prohibition within their borders. The latter is called local option.

Today, almost one-half of the counties in Mississippi are dry with 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 across the country in the process of, for example, moving a personal wine or spirits collection to one's new residence

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, 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 the 120 counties of Kentucky, 55 are completely dry and 30 are wet [1]. The remaining 35 counties are “moist, fall somewhere between.

    * Certain counties allow the sale of alcoholic beverages by the drink on golf courses located in dry counties.
    * Some wineries are allowed to operate within dry counties.
    * 16 cities within dry counties have voted to allow restaurants above a specified size to serve drinks.
    * 16 other cities are wet cities located in dry counties.

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. In some counties, only 4 percent beer is legal. In others, beverages that are 14 percent or less alcohol are legal. 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, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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."

Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas and Virginia also have a large number of dry counties. Kansas was where Carrie Nation became well-known for using her hatchet to destroy bars and terrify patrons.

Smaller jurisdictions exist which prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages as well, such as dry towns. There are 129 dry towns and villages in Alaska. In thirty-two of these communities the mere possession of alcohol is a crime. There are hundreds of other dry towns in the United States, some existing within wet counties.

In addition, many counties and municipalities in the United States are dry on Sunday or part of Sunday, which is the Sabbath for most Christians. This is a result of Colonial-era Blue Laws, which were designed to promote Christian morality.


Never knew about this...

Dry Counties in the U.S.
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1140551076.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_counties

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