Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Monday, July 22, 2024
the end of prohibition. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Eat up the summer with an Iowa Soybean Association farmer membership powered by the soybean check-off. Access timely industry info, engage in on-farm research, and join producer programs all designed to support your operations' unique needs. Activate or confirm your membership before August 31st and be entered to win one of many unique prizes, including a solo stove. Visit isoybeans.com today to learn more. The Iowa Soybean Association, driven to deliver for Iowa's nearly 37,000 soybean farmers. Balltown in Dubuque County was settled by John Ball and his family, who first came to the area in the 1830s. Balltown is home to Brightbox Country Dining, the oldest continuous restaurant bar in Iowa. It opened for business as a stagecoach stop in 1852 and was turned into a saloon and restaurant by the Brightbox family less than a decade later. But for 13 years, no alcohol was served there. That's because of the national prohibition laws which went into effect on January 20th, 1920. The end of America's experiment with sobriety began when Congress repealed the 18th Amendment on February 20th, 1933, and citizens knew that soon liquor could again be sold. Preparations had to be made, and in Dubuque County, the word had spread that when the sale of alcohol would again be legal, according to Iowa law, licenses to dispense beer could only be granted to establishments that were inside incorporated places. To that point, Balltown had been unincorporated, as had its neighbors Cheryl and Sageville. Being an incorporated village meant registering with the state and completing ongoing paperwork, but it seemed worth it to be able to again open the saloons in those areas. So on July 22, 1933, Upper Balltown became one of 10 so-called "beer towns" incorporated in Dubuque County in 1933, so the town's taverns could serve beer. As it turned out, the interpretation was mistaken, and a tavern could get a license regardless of whether it was in an incorporated town or not. But the citizens of Balltown were ready for when prohibition finally ended in December of that year, because their community became incorporated with the state of Iowa, on this date, in 1933. And that's Iowa Almanac for July 22. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.