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Rum Across the Border: The Prohibition Era in Northern New York

by Allan S. Everest

A borderland history of Prohibition-era smuggling

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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A borderland history of Prohibition-era smuggling

Allan S. Everest centers this account on Rouses Point, New York, a major customs post along the Montreal–New York “Rum Trail,” where the U.S.-Canada border became a route for illicit liquor during Prohibition. Drawing on recollections from smugglers, local residents, and customs officials, the book traces the many practical routes and methods used to move alcohol by road, rail, and water. It also places those operations alongside temperance activism, federal enforcement, court cases, cross-border commerce, speakeasies, and the roles of women smugglers and Canadian breweries. A map, sixteen illustrations, and regional ballads add documentary context to this focused regional history.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in Prohibition and North American border history
  • True-crime readers interested in bootlegging and law enforcement
  • Anyone seeking a regional history of northern New York

Themes

ProhibitionBootleggingU.S.-Canada borderlandsCustoms enforcementRegional history

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

During the boisterous days of American Prohibition, the Lake Chaplain region of New York State teemed with bootleggers, all hoping to make a fast buck smuggling Canadian liquor across the border.

In this lively account of that era, Everest's sources--smugglers, local people, and customs officials--recall that if there was a way to smuggle booze, whether by road, rail, or water, it was tried at Rouses Point, New York, the site of a busy U.S. customs station on the Montreal-New York "Rum Trail."

The Temperance and Prohibition movements in New York State, controversial federal legislation, its enforcement, the smugglers' ingenuity, their rivalries, the profits, smuggling goods into Canada, the cars, female smugglers, illegal aliens, Canadian breweries, the speakeasies in New York City, the chases, the captures, the courts, and even the weather--all are part of the story.

The generation who lived through those raucous days will remember that this is indeed how it was. A map, sixteen illustrations, and regional ballads are included.

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