Related to the thread about the 'old days' and places in Starkville, in the 1970's, there was a bar downtown called Tuesdays. I think it was located in a corner building. I could never understand how you could get ****-faced on liquor but not be able to buy beer in Starkville.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (con'td)
- Thread starter Driftwood C C
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I think Tuesdays was next door to Western Auto across the street from the Presbyterian Church. It burned to the ground.
The Lord works in mysterious ways or maybe it was the owner**
Of course, us Presbyterians don't mind drinking. On our pastors and elders Facebook page, there was a thread about what is your favorite Scotch.
Drinking Age for beer in Mississippi changed from 18 to 21 on October 1, 1986. I remember it well because I was 20 at the time. i had been legal to buy beer for almost 2 & 1/2 and then became illegal for about 6 months.
I could legally buy beer underage at this time - okay, it was wholesale only and I was authorized to write checks for my family's grocery store which I did to distributors.
When did Starkville/Oktibbeha legalize beer? When I was there, the entire county was still dry. And the state was dry for all alcohol except beer. Beer age was 18, and that was '65-'70.
It became legal in Starkville Jan 1, 1982. Len Lews and a couple of others joints out at the Roads burned over the holidays.
It was legalized in 1980-81 ..it was relatively easy....we ran the campaign out of the Student Association. We found that beer had failed 11 straight elections. At the same time we found that 2100 votes was the most votes needed to win any election in the city. Then we researched the registration process which was left over from the Jim Crow days and was very difficult to get someone registered to vote....you had to register in the county first then register in the city in two separate places... so we made up flyers and passed them out at registration (in those days, everyone would decend on the Hump and sign up for their classes). We ran buses to the registration locations.
Because we had identified our voters, we saw no need to publicize the election in hopes that the churches and the crossroads beer joints wouldn’t realize what was happening. We ran into a few stumbles such as compromises in the actual language of the ordinance where Beer could not be sold within 1500 feet of a school, ( sorry Shakey’s Pizza) and could not be sold cold. (The grocery stores all placed it next to the refrigerated areas). Then a week before the election, we had a church that was a longtime polling place refuse to allow the vote on beer in their building. Because all polling places had to be approved through the Justice Department, they thought that the election would not be held as they didn’t believe that we could get a new polling place approved in a week... however we had worked with the justice department on another issue so we were able to get a fire station approved. After all of that, the initiative passed 2-1.
Dude
That's one of the coolest Starkville stories I've ever read. Thank you for your service. I arrived as a freshman from out of state in 85, legal for a little over a year.
Now THAT is dedication. Did the polling place remain in the church that refused to be used for that referendum?
Yeah, y'all had already won the vote when I got there in the fall of 81. it took effect Jan 1.
..well I left for Texas after graduation but I am pretty sure they lost their standing as an approved polling place....I believe the process is still same today...all polling places have to go through the Justice Department so unless a county official petitioned for a change it may still be the same.
Those I don't remember. I wasn't a drinker back then and didn't frequent any of them. I drove past Len Lews every time I went home. There have to be a few people on here who know though.
Mississippi was the last state in the United States to repeal prohibition, in 1966
After the repeal of national prohibition, each state was given the right to control alcohol as it wished, including prohibition. Mississippi was legally dry from 1933 to 1966, but during this time many residents consumed alcoholic beverages. Beer and whiskey were the primary beverages of choice (Moore, 1987). The sale of 3.2% beer became legal in the state in 1945 and was available by local, county and city option. A survey of a nonrepresentative sample of adults in two Mississippi communities (one "wet" and one "dry") in 1965 found that only 48% of males and 25% of females reported consuming alcoholic beverages during the preceding year (Windham and Aldridge, 1965). …
That's just crazy to even think about...
https://business.highbeam.com/410209/article-1G1-18732682/end-us-prohibition-case-study-mississippi
MS will also be the last state to allow legal marijuana too, book it...
Ah memories....
I arrived at state in 1980 and the battle pitting the students and the town establishment was already underway. The SA president, I believe his name was Garriga was leading the charge.
I arrived at state in 1980 and the battle pitting the students and the town establishment was already underway. The SA president, I believe his name was Garriga was leading the charge.
In the late 1960s the places included Len Lew's and the Triangle Club (across 45 from Len Lew's) The Cross Roads was at the intersection of H-82 and H-45. Echol's on H-82.
I could have sworn beer was legal and available in Starkville when I was a freshman in the Fall of 1981. I don't remember waiting until January.
I'm almost certain it took effect Jan 1, 1982. I didn't drink, but I plenty of friends who did. I was shocked, shocked I tell you, at the joints at the roads burning over those holidays. I don't think any of them survived much over a year. The Landing came along later.
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In 2013, the US Supreme Court struck down the portion of Section 5 of the ‘64 civil rights act that forced 9 southern states to submit matters affecting voting (such as changing polling places or introducing voter registration requirements) to the Department of Justice for “preclearance.” These 9 southern states (or their respective counties or municipalities) no longer are required to submit changes affecting voting to DOJ (Praise God!). Shelby County, Alabama v 17n Eric Holder, 570 U.S. 2 (2013). Polling places are now changed via local resolution adopted by the local governing authorities and the feds can go 17 themselves.
Len Lews burned in the fall of 81 during the early afternoon. The fire had nothing to do with beer in Starkville being legalized. I can't think of any other joints that burned. The Triangle Club across the street was renamed The Landing. The Cross Roads Disco & Gas Station and the Cross Roads Lounge were all still in business into the 1990s. Echols eventually closed because Pop Echols was old and retired. It was torn down and Doug's was built.
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thanks Shumley...that’s good to know.... it was a hassle ...if I hadn’t been involved with the Justice Department the previous year getting a priest out of jail because he spoke out at a KKK rally, I doubt we would have been able to do it.
And they should have lost their standing as an approved voting place. It's not up to the polling location to tell voters who or what to vote for, and that's what they were trying to do. Everybody should belive that regardess of whether they approve of alcohol sales or not
I was in school then but don't remember anything being legal in Mississippi other than beer the entire time I was there. I guess I was wrong, or maybe it wasn't publicized in Starkville.
Oklahoma was also "dry" then, but I don't know if they legalized first or if it was after Mississippi.
When I moved to Huntsville, the only county north of Birmingham that had legal alcohol sales was Madison (where Huntsville is). I have no idea how many are still dry, but it was only in the last year or two that Hartselle approve alcohol sales.
I read an article a day or two ago where Birmingham still doesn't allow Sunday sales until noon, so no Bloody Marys with your Sunday brunch ... yet. That's about to change.
In Huntsville, until probalby 15 years ago, if you bought wine in a grocery store you had to put it in a paper bag before you could leave the wine area. Of course, everybody knew what was in the bag (distintive shape) and you looked like a wino trying to hide your habit. There are some strange laws out there.
Blue Laws are not just a Southern thing though. Last time I spent any time in Philadelphia the only places that could sell a six-pack were bars. No sales in grocery or convenience stores.
I went to the Crossroads once to see what it was like ... it was basically a truck stop. Len Lew's was an honest to goodness honkey tonk. Never went there. Never heard of the Triangle.
It is, but it's not the original red brick Woodpile. It's a regular ole convenience store and it's on the SE corner of the intersection instead of the NE corner like it was in the good old days. The old one burned I believe
My dad told me when he was young and would come to visit friends they would go out to Echols to the produce stand. There was always 1 gal jugs of Apple Cider lined up across the front for sale, even in '80 when I made my first trip out there. Dad said you could tell a certain guy there that you wanted some of their "sweet cider" and the guy would go to the back of the place and come out w/ a jug of hooch for you instead of the regular apple cider
To set the record straight, the downtown bar was called Monday’s. Great live rock & roll and $5 pitchers of Sangria (and plenty more liquor). No beer.
Tuesday’s was in Columbus where Harvey’s is now on River Hill. Also great live rock and roll, but mostly a beer bar.
We had a pretty savy bunch in those days ...I was surprised who went on to have careers in politics and those who didn’t...
Obviously you are an attorney, perhaps you can tell me if something has changed ... when I was in school, I drove a POS car that I was always delinquent in getting my state inspection... one day, Starkville PD stopped me and wrote me a ticket.... me being the fearless skeptic of any authority, found out that at that time, since it was a “state law”, that only highway patrol could write a ticket for a state inspection . I went to court and pled my case... the judge was pissed that I was arguing a case without representation and gave me a lecture on a number of things ..but in the end, dismissed the ticket.
Is that still the case today? And didn’t Mississippi have a law that local police could not enforce spending laws on state highways if your population was below 10,000?
The state inspection racket is gone now. State legislature killed it a couple of years ago. From what I understand, any LEO could write a ticket for expired or no inspection sticker, but 100% of the fine levied was diverted to MHP (I think to support trooper retirement program). There was no incentive for other jurisdictions to write those tickets as the locals got zero diversion. That's all in the past now, thankfully.
I have no idea about your second question. As many damn tickets as I got in Louisville on 25, I doubt that was the case.
I have no idea about your second question. As many damn tickets as I got in Louisville on 25, I doubt that was the case.