Prohibition

There have been two periods of Prohibition of alcoholic beverages in Birmingham. A local measure restricting alcohol sales was in force between 1908 and 1911, and national prohibition was in effect between 1920 and 1933.

The local prohibition campaign was an effort, led by mayor George Ward and the Birmingham News to improve the city's notorious image following a series of bribary scandals involving liquor and gambling interests. Birmingham's “red light” districts, such as Pigeon’s Roost and Scratch Ankle, were also cited as both a public safety concern and a source of negative publicity.

In 1907 Ward and the News began a push for prohibition of alcohol within the city. By year's end, Ward was successful in having prohibition enacted, and on New Years Day 1908, Birmingham went dry. However, the experiment was repealed in 1911.

Birmingham would again experience prohibition beginning in 1920 with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Again, this was short lived, with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to repeal national prohibition in 1933.

References

• Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce (1976) Century Plus: A Bicentennial Portrait of Birmingham, Alabama 1976 Birmingham: Oxmoor Press, p. 18.