From the desk of Steve Willis, former Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: After the voters of Washington State had approved a state-wide prohibition of alcohol in 1914, the clock started ticking for drinkers. The last legal drinks could be consumed on December 31, 1915. By that time, the town of Starbuck was the last town left in a two-county area that was still “wet.” The following article found at random in the January 8, 1916…
From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: Found at random in The Journal (Burlington, Washington), Sept. 27, 1900, page 1, top of the fold: Another Saloon “The question of another saloon in Burlington has been quite freely discussed among our citizens during the past week, since it had been reported that property had been purchased and arrangements made for the establishment of another liquor dispensary. From all that can be learned…
1887 and 1888 proved to be dark years for the women’s suffrage movement in Washington. In the 1887 case of Harland v. Territory, the Territorial Supreme Court overturned the Women’s Suffrage Act of 1886 because it allowed women to serve on juries. Justice George Turner (photo on left courtesy of Washington State Archives), who firmly believed that women were incapable of voting intelligently on public matters (tsk-tsk!), ruled that the title of the 1886 election law was defective and the…