The Time South Dakota Tried to Ban Beer

File this under, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Here's how it went down in South Dakota.

It was over a century ago that the National Prohibition Act was passed in this nation. The year was 1920. Although South Dakota thought it would be a good idea to enact prohibition a few years earlier on March 20, 1918.

"No person shall on or after the date when the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized in this Act, and all the provisions of this Act shall be liberally construed to the end that the use of intoxicating liquor as a beverage may be prevented." - <a class="external text" href="http://www.mnopedia.org/thing/national-prohibition-act-volstead-act" rel="nofollow">National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act) </a>

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The images are enough to make a grown man cry. The wine was flooding down the streets and fine whiskeys were being poured down the drains.

Contraband beer being spilled into the streets from barrels during the prohibition era. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

Overall, South Dakota was a sober state for 18 years. Or was it?

illegal homemade stills popped up across the state. Moonshine operations were doing a brisk underground business. And bootleggers had to figure out how to outrun the law.

I reckon many folks from Sioux Falls crossed the border to Iowa or Minnesota where they didn't observe the National Prohibition Act for nearly a year later.

circa 1920: Two men pouring alcohol down a drain during prohibition in America. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Deadwood, South Dakota was no exception. They really just ignored the law.

According to Mary Kopco, director of Deadwood's Adams Museum, no one really took notice. Deadwood had over 30 saloons with backrooms that would serve you alcohol. This is according to the Dakota Digest of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

If you really want a deep dive into prohibition in South Dakota I would highly recommend the book, Prohibition in South Dakota: Astride the White Mule by Chuck Cecil. In it, the author writes about the murder of prohibition officers near Redfield and a secret moonshine outfit buried under Lon Vaught's chicken house!

Check Out This 1962 Listing of Sioux Falls Bars and Restaurants - Do You Remember Any?

Check out this collection of Sioux Falls bars and restaurants. We have Giovanni's Steak House, The Rainbow Bar, Harry's Hamburgers, Eagle Bar and Lounge, Pancake House, Nickel Plate, and more. Do you remember any of them? Or how long any lasted?

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