Dry state

{{short description|US state in which alcohol was prohibited}} thumb|300px|Animated map of alcohol prohibition in the United States 1880 – 2025

A '''dry state''' was a state in the United States in which the manufacture, distribution, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited or tightly restricted. Some states, such as North Dakota, entered the United States as dry states, and others went dry after the passage of prohibition legislation or the Volstead Act. No state remains completely dry, but some states do contain dry counties.

Prior to the adoption of nationwide prohibition in 1920, state legislatures passed local option laws that allowed a county or township to go dry if it chose to do so.<ref>{{cite book | author =James H. Madison | title =Indiana Through Tradition and Change: A History of the Hoosier State and Its People, 1920–1945 | publisher =Indiana Historical Society | series =The History of Indiana | volume =5 | year =1982 | location =Indianapolis | page =40 }}</ref> The Maine law, passed in 1851 in Maine, was among the first statutory implementations of the developing temperance movement in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|author=Henry Stephen Clubb| title=The Maine Liquor Law: Its Origin, History, and Results, Including a Life of Hon. Neal Dow|publisher=Fowler and Wells, for the Maine Law Statistical Society| year=1856| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T7ApAAAAYAAJ&q=The+Maine+Liquor+Law%3A+Its+Origin%2C+History%2C+and+Results | access-date=2013-10-23}}</ref>

Following Maine's lead, prohibition laws were soon passed in the states of Delaware, Ohio, Illinois, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New York; however, all but one were repealed.<ref name=McGrew>{{cite web | author=Jane McGrew | title =History of Alcohol Prohibition | publisher =National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse | url = http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/nc/nc2a.htm | access-date =2013-10-22}}</ref> The debate over prohibition increased in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as the drys, including the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), the National Prohibition Party, the Anti-Saloon League, and others, continued to support temperance and prohibition legislation, while the wets opposed it.<ref name=McGrew/> By 1913 nine states had statewide prohibition and 31 others had local option laws, placing more than 50 percent of the United States population under some form of alcohol prohibition.<ref name=McGrew/>

Following two unsuccessful attempts at national prohibition legislation (one in 1913 and the other in 1915), Congress approved a resolution on December 19, 1917, to prohibit the manufacture, sale, transportation, and importation of alcoholic beverages in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Prohibition wins in Senate, 47 to 8 |newspaper=New York Times| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/12/19/96281151.pdf|date=December 19, 1917 |page=6 |access-date=2013-10-22}}</ref> The resolution was sent to the states for ratification and became the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. On January 8, 1918, Mississippi became the first state to ratify the amendment and on January 16, 1919, Nebraska became the 36th state to do so, securing its passage with the required three-fourths of the states.<ref>See U.S. Const. art. V.</ref> By the end of February 1919, only three states remained as hold-outs to ratification: New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island.<ref name=McGrew/>

The National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, was enacted on October 18, 1919. Prohibition in the United States went into effect on January 17, 1920,<ref name=McGrew/> but quickly lost popularity as the illegal sale of alcohol flourished, leading to a growth in organized crime. Nationwide prohibition was repealed in 1933 with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment on February 20 and its ratification on December 5.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html|title=Amendments 11–27|publisher=US National Archives}}</ref> The Twenty-first Amendment explicitly allowed states to continue banning alcohol as before, with the importation of alcohol into those states becoming a federal offense. However, most of these states repealed their own prohibition laws for the same reasons in the years that followed. The last "dry state" was Mississippi, which removed its statewide ban on the sale of alcohol in 1966.<ref>[https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/prohibition/ "Prohibition"], ''The Mississippi Encyclopedia'', Mississippi Humanities Council, last updated April 14, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2025.</ref>

== List of formerly dry states == {{Expand list|date=November 2019}} This table lists the effective dates each state went dry and any dates of repeal that do not coincide with the end of national prohibition in 1933.

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! rowspan="3" | State !! rowspan="3" | Dry date !! colspan="3" | Repeal date !! {{Abbr|Ref|References}} |- ! colspan="2" |Retail sales !On-premise ! |- !Beer !Liquor ! ! |- valign="top" halign="left" | rowspan="2" | Maine | {{dts|1851}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1856}} | <ref>{{cite web | author= Kat Eschner| title = Why Was Maine the First State to Try Prohibition? | publisher =Smithsonian Magazine | date =2017-06-02 |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/maine-first-state-try-prohibition-180963503/ | access-date=2013-05-08}}</ref><ref name="alm">[https://archive.org/details/antisaloonleague00anti_10/ Anti Saloon League Yearbook], 1919</ref><ref name="infant">Jacks, David S., Krishna Pendakur, and Hitoshi Shigeoka. [https://www.sfu.ca/~pendakur/papers/20191522_main.pdf "Infant Mortality and the Repeal of Federal Prohibition"], Simon Fraser University, September 2020.</ref> |- | {{dts|1858}} | colspan="3" |{{dts|1934}} | |- | Vermont | {{dts|1853}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1902}} | <ref>{{cite web |title=Prohibition & Temperance |publisher=Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership |url=https://champlainvalleynhp.org/heritage/prohibition-temperance/#:~:text=In%201853%2C%20Vermont%20prohibited%20the,it%20was%20repealed%20in%201903. |access-date=2024-05-08}}</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Kansas | {{dts|1880-11-23}} | {{dts|1937}} | {{dts|1948}} | {{dts|1987}} | <ref>{{cite web |date=February 24, 2003 |title=Kansas Liquor Laws |url=http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/Kansas_liquor_laws_2003.pdf |work=Kansas Legislative Research Department |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022013021/http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/Publications/Kansas_liquor_laws_2003.pdf |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |access-date=September 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name="APM17">{{cite book |title=The Anti-Prohibition Manual: A Summary of Facts and Figures Dealing with Prohibition, 1917 |publisher=National Association of Distillers and Wholesale Dealers |year=1917 |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |page=[https://archive.org/details/antiprohibitionm17nati/page/8 8] |url=https://archive.org/details/antiprohibitionm17nati}}</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | rowspan="2" | Iowa | {{dts|1882-07-27}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1894}} | rowspan="2" | <ref>{{cite web|title=Prohibition Rule: Murder in Sioux City|url=http://www.historynet.com/the-prohibition-rule-murder-in-sioux-city.htm|work=Wild West Magazine|date=12 June 2006|access-date=2013-03-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Original Gangsters: The Iowa City Beer Riots of 1884|url=http://littlevillagemag.com/the-hops-original-gangsters-the-iowa-city-beer-riots-of-1884/|work=Little Village Magazine|date=26 March 2013|access-date=2013-03-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sioux City's Prohibition Past Fascinates Historians|url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sioux-city-s-prohibition-past-fascinates-historians/article_f3c41279-0c0d-5c97-b98b-ffe9dde66e0a.html|work=The Sioux City Journal|date=2 October 2011 |access-date=2013-03-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Beer Business Has Been In-and-Out Venture Here, but Whisky Has Flowed Freely Much of the Time|url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/blogs/siouxland_history/business/beer-business-has-been-in-and-out-venture-here-but/article_fcaa6aa7-baf7-5c4f-8cc8-4e8aa38d7370.html|work=Sioux City Journal|date=5 March 2012 |access-date=2013-03-27}}</ref><ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- |{{dts|1916-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} |- valign="top" halign="left" | North Dakota | {{dts|1889-11-02}} | {{dts|1933-10-22}} | {{dts|1936-11}} | |<ref>[http://www.mandanhistory.org/areahistory/prohibitioninmandan.html Prohibition in Mandan]</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | rowspan="2" | South Dakota | {{dts|1889-10-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1896}} | rowspan="2" | <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vollan |first1=Chuck |title=Bone Dry |journal=South Dakota State Historical Society |volume=45 |issue=Fall 2015 |pages=189-227 |url=https://www.sdhspress.com/journal/south-dakota-history-45-3/bone-dry-south-dakotas-flawed-adoption-of-alcohol-prohibition/4503_bone-dry_vollan.pdf |access-date=15 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ganz |first1=Kevin |title=The Bottle and the Ballot |url=https://www.sdpb.org/images-of-the-past/2020-01-06/the-bottle-and-the-ballot |website=sdpb.org |publisher=South Dakota Public Broadcasting |access-date=15 May 2025}}</ref> |- | {{dts|1916-11-07}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} |- valign="top" halign="left" | Oklahoma | {{dts|1907-09-17}} |{{dts|1933-06-16}} |{{dts|1959-04-07}} |{{dts|1984-09-18}} | <ref>{{cite web | author=Jimmie Franklin | title =Prohibition | publisher =The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma history and culture |url= https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=PR018 | access-date=2024-05-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title =Prohibition is repealed | publisher =Oklahoma Digital Prairie |url=https://digitalprarieok.net/prohibition-repealed/| access-date=2024-05-10}}</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Georgia | {{dts|1908-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1938}} | <ref>{{cite web | author=Stephen Fowler | title =A Brief History of Alcohol (And the Lack Thereof) in the State of Georgia | publisher=Georgia Public Broadcasting| date=2018-03-08| url= https://www.gpb.org/news/2018/03/08/brief-history-of-alcohol-and-the-lack-thereof-in-georgia | access-date=2024-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Kaylynn Washnock | title =Prohibition in Georgia | publisher=New Georgia Encyclopedia| date=2020-07-20| url= https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/prohibition-in-georgia/ | access-date=2024-05-12}}</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Mississippi | {{dts|1908-12-31}} | {{dts|1934-02-26}} | colspan="2" | {{dts|1966-06-30}}{{Efn|The repeal of the statewide ban did not immediately lead to the legalization of alcohol sales in any part of Mississippi. When the Alcohol Beverage Control Law took effect on July 1, 1966, the ban remained in place in all counties, but each county was permitted to hold its own referendum to decide whether to allow alcohol to be sold within its borders.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bolivar-commercial/179169867/ "Prohibition Era Nears End"], ''Bolivar Commercial'', June 30, 1966, front page.</ref> The first of these county-level votes were held on July 16, with Harrison and Washington counties approving the sale of alcohol by large majorities.<ref>Associated Press. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/179171265/ "Two Counties Okay Liquor"], ''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'', July 17, 1966, front page and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/179171469/ page 14A].</ref> The first legal consumption of alcohol took place at the Broadwater Beach Hotel in Biloxi on July 27.<ref>Associated Press. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/179171727/ "Whisky On Sale In Biloxi"], ''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'', July 27, 1966, front page and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/179171967/ page 16A].</ref>}} | <ref>Farrington, Sam S. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger-1934-beer-bill-signed/29987719/ "Signing of Beer Bill Starts Flow Over Mississippi"], ''Jackson Clarion-Ledger'', February 27, 1934, front page and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/179829983/ page seven].</ref><ref name="APM17" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | North Carolina | {{dts|1909-01-01}} | {{dts|1935}} | {{dts|1937}} | {{dts|1978-11-21}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref>Patrick Horn, [http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/temperance.html "The Temperance Movement in North Carolina"]</ref><ref>[https://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/clr/article/1002/&path_info=v1_no1_p61_crowell.pdf A History of Liquor-by-the-Drink Legislation in North Carolina]</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Tennessee | {{dts|1909-07-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1939}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref>Tennessee Encyclopedia, [https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/temperance/ "The Temperance in Tennessee" ]</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Alabama | {{dts|1915-07-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1936}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Ohio | {{dts|1919-05-27}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Oregon | {{dts|1916-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | West Virginia | {{dts|1914-07-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Washington | {{dts|1916-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Montana | {{dts|1918-12-31}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Nebraska | {{dts|1917-05-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Nevada | {{dts|1918-12-16}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | New Hampshire | {{dts|1918-05-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | New Mexico | {{dts|1918-10-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Indiana | {{dts|1918-04-02}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref>Passed in 1917, subsequent attempts to overturn the law failed in 1918, when a court ruled Indiana's statewide prohibition law as constitutional and the state went dry. See {{cite book | author =Jason S. Lantzer | title ='Prohibition is Here to Stay': The Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and the Dry Crusade in Indiana | publisher =University of Notre Dame Press | year =2009 | location =Notre Dame, Indiana | pages =80–83 | isbn =978-0-268-03383-5}}</ref><ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Michigan | {{dts|1918-04-30}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Florida | {{dts|1919-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Kentucky | {{dts|1919-11}}<ref>Date the state prohibition law was passed.</ref> | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref>{{cite web |author=Jim Warren |title=Revisiting Prohibition: Kentucky was ahead of the times |publisher=Lexington Herald-Leader |date=2011-10-18 |url=http://www.kentucky.com/2011/10/18/1924968/alcohol-sales-were-banned-in-kentucky.html |access-date=2013-10-01}}</ref><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Texas | {{dts|1918-06-26}} | {{dts|1933-09-15}} | {{dts|1935}} | {{dts|1971-04-21}} | <ref name="APM18">{{cite book | title =The Anti-Prohibition Manual: A Summary of Facts and Figures Dealing with Prohibition, 1918 | publisher =National Association of Distillers and Wholesale Dealers | year =1918 | location =Cincinnati, Ohio | page =[https://archive.org/details/antiprohibitionm00nati/page/8 8] | url =https://archive.org/details/antiprohibitionm00nati }}</ref><ref name="alm" /><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/22/archives/texas-allows-sales-of-liquor-by-drink.html TEXAS ALLOWS SALES OF LIQUOR BY DRINK]</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1933/09/15/archives/texas-gets-legal-beer-brew-flows-after-14-years-as-state-law.html TEXAS GETS LEGAL BEER.; Brew Flows After 14 Years as State Law Becomes Effective.], 15 September 1933</ref> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Virginia | {{dts|1916-11-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Utah | {{dts|1918-11-05}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | South Carolina | {{dts|1915-12-31}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Idaho | {{dts|1916-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Colorado | {{dts|1916-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Arkansas | {{dts|1916-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Arizona | {{dts|1915-01-01}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1933}} | <ref name="APM17" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Wyoming | {{dts|1919-06-30}} | colspan="3" | {{dts|1934}} | <ref name="alm" /><ref name="infant" /> |- valign="top" halign="left" | Alaska | {{dts|1918-01-01}} | {{dts|1933-04-07}} | {{dts|1934-05-01}} | {{dts|1939-07-01}} | <ref name="alm"/><ref>[https://www.juneauempire.com/life/a-short-history-of-alcohol-and-bars-in-alaska/ A short history of alcohol and bars in Alaska]</ref> |}

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Alcohol law in the United States Category:Prohibition in the United States