JUNE 8TH, 1903 :: At midnight, all twelve of the saloons in Bremerton will shut their doors for good, their liquor licenses revoked.
This isn’t the 18th amendment, which will begin national prohibition in 1920, or Washington’s prohibition which started in 1916. This is Bremerton’s personal attempt at going dry. Bremerton has a long, complicated relationship with alcohol which is often defined by sailors’ relationship to alcohol.
So, why did sailors drink so much?
Well, in 1794 Congress authorized daily rum rations for sailors. That’s right, Uncle Sam himself used to hand out free drinks on board naval ships. They had their reasons, though. Clean water was hard to maintain on sailing voyages so it would be cut with alcohol, sanitizing it. Citrus was added to ward off scurvy. They called this fine beverage “Grog.” Sailors were known to guzzle their half-pint ration in one sitting. You can’t give people alcohol everyday and expect no problems. Alcohol would continue to be allowed on ships until 1914. Sailors got off the boat looking for more of it and Bremerton, like all port towns, was happy to oblige.
In January of 1903, The Secretary of the Navy issued an order. All work at our fledgling navy yard was canceled until Bremerton cleaned up its act. The town was shocked. Was the Secretary a puritan? Was Bremerton being made an example of? Maybe it was a scheme to send work back to jealous San Francisco… Or, did a certain warship captain cause this to escape his deep gambling debts?
Local government argued about it for months. The empty navy yard led to empty pockets. Angry citizens threatened to shut the pubs down themselves if it would bring back their paychecks. The mayor realizes he has to make the choice between bread and beer—and bread must win if Bremerton is to survive.
Which brings us back to June 8th, 1903.
The town marshal arrives, patrolling Front street. Someone starts playing a piano and a bartender joins in on guitar. Patrons sing along over top of their beer mugs. One man sings along in gruff german. A crowd develops, moving from bar to bar like a historical pub crawl. The booze flows and they heckle The Marshal between saloons. At midnight, The Marshal began his rounds. He stood at the door to each pub and blew his whistle. Everyone was allowed one last drink… except the man who had to be carried out. He was left to sleep it off on the sidewalk.
“After all, it is their last night. Bremerton is going to be good now,” the marshal says.
The crowd roams downtown where they get into an argument with a street preacher about prohibition. Whether they like it or not, the booze has run out. The mayor awoke to a dry town and immediately sent a telegram to the Navy. By August, it’s reported that there were no less than six ships back in port at Bremerton… and that a small handful of saloons had quietly re-opened in July. // DEENA TAYLOR
CHECK OUT DEENA’s Bremerton History Podcast Bremelore. Find it wherever you podcast. And at bremelore.wtf. And for historical reference on this story, check out: Perry, Fredi. “Bremerton and Puget Sound Navy Yard” Perry Publishing, 2002. pp 44-48 and Smith, Joe. “All Saloons Now Closed”, The Seattle Daily Times, June 9th 1903.
