NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY
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The Orillia Museum of Art and History welcomes back local historian Dave Town as guest contributor for its Celebrating History series.
Town is passionate about preserving our local history. He has been researching, writing speaking about it for over 20 years. His current research is about Orillia’s struggle with drunkenness, the history of prohibition in Orillia.
“What! No Beer?”
In 1908 a binding referendum in Orillia outlawed the sale of all alcohol. It was the culmination of a 50-year campaign to “civilize” the town and reduce the violence, crime and domestic hardship that followed drunkenness.
For the next 40 years (many will vividly remember those days) you had to trek out over the Narrows bridge to the Atherley tavern to get a shot of whiskey or a glass of beer.
Of course, this research has inspired Town to write a new book about Orillia’s conflicted relationship with alcohol over the years. Stay tuned!
Click here to read Town's lively story about the ‘battle’ between the ‘Wets’ and the ‘Drys.’
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