Sign the Resolution Contents | Feedback | Search DRCNet Home | Join DRCNet DRCNet Library | Schaffer Library Historical References
General Histories | Ancient History | 1800-1850 | 1860 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990

PROHIBITION IN EL PASO    

        Prohibition in El Paso began on January 5, 1918, during a routine county commissioners' court meeting.  On this Saturday evening, several petitions calling for a local option election in Precinct One of El Paso were introduced, while another petition demanded an election covering the entire city.  The following Monday, it was decided that the local option election, that would include all of  El Paso County, would be held on January 30, 1918. With this date set, a twenty-five day period of campaigning followed.  Two groups were then established, the "drys" who supported prohibition and the "wets" who opposed it. The Wets and the Drys were in constant disagreement.
          As the deciding day approached, both campaigns scurried to gain last-minute support.  The "drys" retired on January 29,1918, assured that victory was theirs.
        On January 31, 1918, the El Paso Times heralded a startling headline: "EL PASO CITY AND COUNTY DEFINITELY REJECT PROHIBITION. "   RESULTS OF THE EL PASO COUNTY LOCAL OPTION ELECTION- 1918  

         Saloons in El Paso were to survive only two and a half more months, though.  On February 25, 1918, statewide prohibition ninety days after enactment was proposed.  On March 5, 1918, the Eighteenth Amendment (prohibition) was ratified in Congress.  For the first time in history, El Paso's saloons turned out the lights and closed their doors. On the following day, they reopened in Juarez. John Barleycorn became the best tourist agent in Juarez.  Gambling casinos such as the Trivai opened.  Bars and restaurants named Big Kid, Palace, Bagdad, Central, and Mint all catered to those with a particularly fine thirst.  Trains that had ignored El Paso on cross-country trips suddenly began making stops.  El Paso hotels did a thriving business, as did taxis. Gambling casinos soon became a common site in the El Paso area.
    With liquor so readily available in Juarez, it seemed odd that a thriving smuggling business would have taken place across the international line.  Yet each night had its gun fights, and many a smuggler or revenue agent laid down his life in the cold river mud. Cordova Island became a notorious site for smuggling, as there was no river to cross, just a brush-strewn imaginary line.  The island also became the location for the "Hole-in-the-Wall," a combination saloon and gambling parlor.  It  flourished just a few yards south of the boundary, and neither country had any success in closing it.  I t was finally torn down in January, 1931. By then prohibition had nearly run its course, and the time of the Great Depression was at hand.