Boozing and bootleggers with the Prohibition Bar Crawl

When Prohibition slammed the nation in 1919 with the Volstead Act, which outlawed alcohol, Michigan had already illegalized booze nearly two years before. 

Port Huron and the surrounding area became a hub for bootleggers due to its proximity to Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, and Canada. Notorious gangs operated all along St. Clair County’s waterfront, hauling booze from Canada to the States. In 1929, illegal beer and liquor sales from Canada and Michigan bootlegger stills were estimated at around 220 million dollars, making it the second largest business just behind the auto industry. 

The Port Huron Museum showcases this notorious era with its Prohibition Bar Crawl and Bootlegger Camp Bootcamp. Now through the end of September, hop abroad on a trolley with, Curator of Programs and Education, Kayla Flanagan to learn about bootleggers, and visit historic bars linked to Prohibition.
Bar Crawl Trolley.
“Individuals who weren't necessarily fond of the limitations had a solid jump on getting around laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol. With Port Huron's proximity to Canada, we had the convenience of having that international connection for bootlegging and rum running,” Flanagan says.

Prohibition followed the Temperance Movement, which started in the 1830s. The movement was rooted in the Protestant churches, where at first moderation with drinking was encouraged along with helping friends resist temptation. In 1830, the average 15-year-old American drank 7 gallons of pure alcohol a year. This created alcohol abuse in primarily men and wreaked havoc on families, with women and children, who had very few rights at the time, getting abused physically and emotionally and abandoned. As the fervor grew, stimulated by the abolitionists who paired slavery and drinking as two great evils, the movement eventually demanded the outlawing of alcohol completely. 

Many of the stories surrounding prohibition in the county can neither be confirmed nor debunked. There is speculation that the infamous, brutal Purple Gang and Sugar House Gang trafficked bootlegged booze Canada into Michigan along the local shorelines’ going as far as Whiskey Harbor, near Port Hope, which was ideal due to its remoteness and muddy flats where boats dropped off cargos of Canadian Whiskey. The area is now a 45-acre nature preserve.

Kayla lecturing to attendees before the bar crawl.

“A lot of the stories we have about the Purple Gang having a connection to the area are a sort of gray area, because if you are doing illegal things WELL, people shouldn't be finding out about it, so many stories have difficulty being confirmed or debunked. There was someone from the area whose sweetheart was killed by members of the Purple Gang, so it wouldn’t be unlikely for the Gang to have been active in the area,” Flanagan says.

An interesting story Flanagan related concerned the Lexington Beer Party during Prohibition. Federal agents dumped 2500 bottles of confiscated bottles of alcohol into the harbor, trying to get rid of it. When the residents heard about it, and the water was only 6-8 feet, they showed up in bathing suits and dove for the booze. This resulted in numerous drunk people enjoying a rollicking “party.”

Speakeasys became popular in Port Huron called “blind pigs.” The name, “blind pigs” started in Maine, according to Flanagan, when people sold tickets at a location for 5 cents to see a blind pig, which was legal. The blind livestock was just a front to sell illegal alcohol. Bootleggers Axe Company has recreated a speakeasy, called Mooncursers, in its basement. Walk behind a shelf through a hidden door and down the stairs and have a drink of the early 1900s such as the Bees Knees, a Sidecar, or a Barbary Coast.
The Brass Rail on 410 Huron Ave in Port Huron.
The Brass Rail Bar is another place connected to Prohibition, but the owner took a more legitimate path and turned the bar into an ice cream parlor. “While under prohibition, the Brass Rail became an ice-cream parlor to stay in business legitimately, but after the 18th Amendment was repealed, Helen David - whose family owned the Rail - fought to have it brought back as a bar,” Flanagan says. 

Another historic building wrapped in a Prohibition legend is the Cedar Sub & Salad. The story has that during the era, the owner was dabbling in bootlegging and was murdered by rivals, his body dumped in the cellar. His ghost supposedly haunts the structure, flicking lights, banging doors, and going bump in the night. 

Illegal distilleries also abound in the area, hidden in buildings, with tunnels leading to some, where people created moonshine, made with cornmeal, sugar, water, and yeast. Port Huron Museum has an old distillery from the period. 
  
The Prohibition Bar Crawl starts with an overview at the Port Huron Museum and a sample of a speakeasy’s classic cocktail before heading to the bar crawl which lasts 5 hours. Tickets are available here. 

For more information, contact Kayla Flanagan at kflanagan@phmuseum.org, or (810) 982-0891.