USA - portions of USA illegal to buy alcohol

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Dry Counties
by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.

A dry county is one whose government forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages in some form. There are hundreds of dry counties across the United States. About 18,000,000 people live in the 10% of the area of the US that is dry.

Following the repeal of national Prohibition in 1933, a large proportion of the population continued to support prohibition. Some states chose to maintained their own prohibition and others permitted local jurisdictions (especially counties) to decide whether or not to continue prohibition within their borders. The latter is called local option.

Dry Counties in the U.S.
This is a partial list

ALABAMA
Bibb
Blount
Cherokee
Chilton
Clarke
Clay
Coffee
Cullman
DeKalb
Fayette
Franklin
Geneva
Jackson
Lamar
Lauderdale
Lawrence
Marion
Marshall
Monroe
Morgan
Pickens
Randolph
Washington
Winston
ARKANSAS
Ashley
Benton
Boone
Bradley
Clark
Clay
Cleburne
Columbia
Craighead
Crawford
Faulkner
Fulton
Grant
Hempstead
Hot Spring
Howard
Independence
Izard
Johnson
Lafayette
Lawrence
Lincoln
Little River
Lonoke
Madison
Marion
Montgomery
Nevada
Newton
Perry
Pike
Polk
Pope
Randolph
Saline
Scott
Searcy
Sevier
Sharp
Stone
Van Buren
WhiteYell
FLORIDA
Lafayette
Liberty
Madison
Suwannee
Washington
KANSAS
Barber
Chautauqua
Cherokee
Clark
Clay
Comanche
Doniphan
Elk
Gove
Grant
Greeley
Hamilton
Harper
Haskell
Jewell
Kiowa
Lane
Logan
Meade
Morton
Osborne
Ottawa
Rice
Scott
Sheridan
Stafford
Stanton
Stevens
Wallace
Wichita
Woodson
KENTUCKY
Adair
Allen
Ballard
Barren
Bath
Bell
Breathitt
Breckenridge
Butler
Caldwell
Carlisle
Carter
Casey
Clay
Clinton
Crittenden
Cumberland
Edmonson
Elliott
Estill
Fleming
Garrard
Grant
Graves
Grayson
Greenup
Hancock
Hickman
Jackson
Johnson
Knox
Knott
LaRue
Laurel
Lawrence
Lee
Leslie
Letcher
Lincoln
Livingston
Marshall
Martin
McCreary
McCreary
McLean
Menifee
Mercer
Metcalfe
Monroe
Morgan
Ohio
Oldham
Owen
Owsley
Powell
Pulaski
Robertson
Rockcastle
Russell
Shelby
Simpson
Spencer
Taylor
Trimble
Trigg
Wayne
Webster
Whitley
Woodford
MISSISSIPPI
Alcorn
Attala
Benton
Calhoun
Clarke
Franklin
George
Greene
Leake
Lincoln
Newton
Pearl River
Pontotoc
Prentiss
Scott
Simpson
Smith
Tate
Wayne
Webster
TEXAS
Andrews
Angelina
Armstrong
Bailey
Borden
Bowie
Floyd
Cochran
Collingsworth
Cottle
Crosby
Dawson
Delta
Erath
Fisher
Franklin
Gaines
Hale
Hansford
Hemphill
Houston
Johnson
Jones
Kent
Knox
Lamb
Lubbock
Lynn
Morris
Motley
Ochiltree
Panola
Parmer
Roberts
Rusk
Sherman
Smith
Sterling
Swisher
Terry
Throckmorton
Tyler
Van Zandt
Wood
Yoakyum
VIRGINIA
Appomattox
Bland
Botetour
Buchanan
Campbell
Carroll
Charlotte
Craig
Dickenson
Floyd
Franklin
Giles
Grayson
Greene
Halifax
Henry
Highland
King William
Lee
Louisa
Lunenburg
Mecklenburg
Montgomery
Patrick
Pittsylvania
Pulaski
Russell
Scott
Smythe
Surry
Tazewell
Warren
Washington
Wise
Wythe
Today, almost one-half of the counties in Mississippi are dry with their own prohibition against the production, advertising, sale, distribution, or transportation of alcoholic beverages within their boundaries. It is even illegal to bring alcohol through a dry county in Mississippi while traveling across the country in the process of, for example, moving a personal wine or spirits collection to one's new residence

The reason for such a high proportion of dry counties is clear: Mississippi is uniquely temperance-oriented. Mississippi imposed state-wide alcohol prohibition in 1907, over a dozen years before the rest of the country. It was the very first state to ratify the 18th Amendment to create National Prohibition. Following national rejection of Prohibition through Repeal, the state maintained its own state-wide prohibition for another one-third of a century. After that, it specifically “reaffirmed prohibition” when it decided to permit local option regarding alcohol.

Of the 120 counties of Kentucky, 55 are completely dry and 30 are wet [1]. The remaining 35 counties are “moist, fall somewhere between.

Certain counties allow the sale of alcoholic beverages by the drink on golf courses located in dry counties.
Some wineries are allowed to operate within dry counties.
16 cities within dry counties have voted to allow restaurants above a specified size to serve drinks.
16 other cities are wet cities located in dry counties.
Of Texas' 254 counties, 74 are completely dry and many of the rest are moist. The patchwork of laws can be confusing, even to residents. In some counties, only 4 percent beer is legal. In others, beverages that are 14 percent or less alcohol are legal. In some "dry" areas, you can get a mixed drink by paying to join a "private club," and in some "wet" areas you still need a club membership to get liquor-by-the-drink, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The newspaper demonstrates how variable the alcohol laws can be, even within small geographic areas. "Move from Fort Worth to Arlington and you’ll be surprised that you can buy beer but not wine at the grocery store. Move to Grand Prairie and you can’t even find beer there, but you can buy alcoholic drinks at restaurants in both towns. Then move to Burleson, which has alcohol sales in the Tarrant County portion of the city but not in the Johnson County side of town."

Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas and Virginia also have a large number of dry counties. Kansas was where Carrie Nation became well-known for using her hatchet to destroy bars and terrify patrons.

Smaller jurisdictions exist which prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages as well, such as dry towns. There are 129 dry towns and villages in Alaska. In thirty-two of these communities the mere possession of alcohol is a crime. There are hundreds of other dry towns in the United States, some existing within wet counties.

In addition, many counties and municipalities in the United States are dry on Sunday or part of Sunday, which is the Sabbath for most Christians. This is a result of Colonial-era Blue Laws, which were designed to promote Christian morality.