The history of  the liquor store is inextricably linked to prohibition. Prohibition is the effort to limit or ban the sale and consumption of alcohol, and has been prevalent since Arkansas ’s territorial period. The state has attempted to limit use of alcoholic beverages through legal efforts such as establishing “dry” counties. Since achieving statehood in 1836, prohibition has consistently been a political and public health issue.

In the early days, drinking was not only an everyday fact of life but, a fundamental part of state politics. Candidates typically won favor with voters by providing generous amounts of whiskey on Election Day. There developed, however, a sense that alcohol hindered the ability of workers to perform their jobs adequately, which some business owners feared would result in lower profits. While some prohibitionists were against any type of alcohol, others took a strong stance against whiskey and liquor, while only wanting to somewhat limit the production and sale of beer and wine.

The Civil War brought great efforts by state leaders to prohibit the sale of liquor from a Liquor Store. In 1862, under Confederate rule, the state passed a statewide ban on distilleries in order to save grain for the war effort. This did little to curb backwoods “bootleg” whiskey production, and indeed, many prominent Arkansans openly ignored the law, such as Washington County judge David Walker, who proclaimed that he would pay “any price in or out of reason” to acquire whiskey. In 1864, the state’s efforts to stop the production of alcohol fell apart when Governor Harris Flanagin signed a bill that allowed distilleries to pay the state for the right to produce alcohol.

In the post-war era, farmers discovered they could earn far greater profits by producing alcohol than by growing corn or other agricultural products. The spread of moonshine stills and the illegal trade in alcohol spurred response from  law enforcement. Throughout the 1870s, in what became known as the “moonshine wars,” federal revenue agents fanned out across  in search of illegal stills. Raids against moonshiners were common, and stories of violent shootouts were told in the local newspapers.

The prohibition movement gained momentum in the first decade of the twentieth century as much of the nation, continued to ban bars and saloons. By 1906, 60% of American towns had done this. It was during this period that  governors such as George Donaghey led the way for stronger control of alcohol.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the national move toward prohibition gained the final motivation it needed, as the war effort’s demand for grain (a key ingredient for producing liquor) outweighed the need for alcohol. This brought about Congress passing the Eighteenth Amendment, which  ratified in January 1919.

By the early 1930s, the Great Depression was upon our country. This changed the perspective of many Americans, who began to view repealing the ban on alcohol as economically beneficial. People were indeed softening their stance on the selling of alcohol by theliquor stores. With the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933, the entire state of Arkansas was once again wet. This ushered in a new phase in the state’s history of alcohol control, in which prohibition was determined county by county.

While the national prohibition movement collapsed following World War II, Arkansas temperance advocates still pushed for dry counties but also had to reconcile with changing attitudes toward consumption. The business community no longer sided with the fading temperance movement. Indeed, from the late 1940s through the 1960s, “dries” suffered many setbacks. Winthrop Rockefeller, governor of the state during the late 1960s, argued that liquor sales would boost tourism and stimulate the economy. By the end of the 20th century, the lines between wet and dry counties had solidified, with 43 counties dry and 32 wet. Efforts to prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol have existed throughout Arkansas ’s history, from the territorial era to the present day.  Now you can shop at your favorite Liquor Store.