Liquor raid turns up a 25 gallon still in Seattle's Capitol Hill on January 19, 1931.

  • By Greg Lange
  • Posted 2/25/1999
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 947
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On January 19, 1931, after receiving a tip, the King County Sheriff department is issued a warrant to search 1612 Boylston Avenue, Apt. No. 6 on Capitol Hill for liquor or anything used to produce alcoholic beverages. A deputy sheriff finds one 25 gallon still, used to make moonshine (whiskey), and a lot of empty kegs, jugs and bottles. The still and containers are destroyed. From 1916 to 1933 Prohibition in Washington made the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal.

Prohibition, outlawing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, took effect in Washington state in 1916. The year 1919 marked ratification of the "bone dry" Prohibition amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the nation. The Prohibition amendment was repealed in 1933.


Sources:

Liquor Search Warrant No. 9628, Liquor Search Dockets, Volume 6, Justice Court, King County, Washington State Archives, Puget Sound Regional Branch, Bellevue Community College campus, Bellevue, Washington.


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