Hooked on History: Beer camps offered illegal brew to thirsty residents during Prohibition

In the early 1930s, camps sprang up in Tuscarawas County where adults could relax, commune with Mother Nature ‒ and guzzle illegal booze.

There were at least two of these facilities, known as beer camps, in the county during the Prohibition era, when the manufacture and consumption of alcohol was illegal in the United States. One camp was on the Tuscarawas River between Midvale and Uhrichsville and the other on Big Stillwater Creek near Newport.

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Tasked with putting these camps out of business was Tuscarawas County Sheriff Harry C. Smith. Smith, a mill worker at the American Sheet & Tin Plate Co. plant in New Philadelphia, was elected to the office in 1928.

Woman jumps in Tuscarawas River to escape police

On July 2, 1931, Smith and John Ward, a state Prohibition inspector, raided a beer camp along the Tuscarawas River, southwest of the Royal Sewer Pipe plant in Midvale.

"The raiders succeeded in mopping up leaves containing whiskey which a woman at the camp poured from a half gallon jar while she was being chased by Officer Ward," the New Philadelphia Daily Times reported. "The woman later jumped into the river to kick the bottle out of reach of the officers. Six pints of beer were found in a tub of ice."

Several alleged customers of the camp were there during the raid.

The proprietor of the camp, a Dennison man, pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was fined $250 plus costs by Probate Judge J.H. Lamneck. The suspect admitted to selling beer and told the judge that he was forced to earn a living that way.

Beer, whiskey and slot machine found in raid

On July 7, Smith, his deputies and Ward raided the Beechwood beer camp near Newport. They confiscated five pints of whiskey, 147 pints and 19 quarts of beer, five gallons of brew and a nickel slot machine.

"The liquor and beer was hidden in three traps hidden in the ground," the Daily Times reported. "Part of the beer was on ice. An improvised bar was built in one of the two tents at the camp.

"Officers used an ax to destroy the slot machine after approximately $3 was removed from it. The nickels will be given to a local Sunday school class by Sheriff Smith."

The proprietor of the camp was a 36-year-old Uhrichsville man. He was fined $200 and costs by Judge Lamneck. However, the man could only come up with $45, so he was lodged in the county jail. That didn't sit well with the suspect.

Soon after, he filed affidavits against two Midvale men who he claimed were his partners in the Beechwood beer camp. He alleged the three men had a "gentleman's agreement" that if one of the men was arrested for operating the camp, the other two would help to pay the fine.

He said his partners "have refused to come clean and help pay the fine."

Both Midvale men appeared before Judge Lamneck and pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing intoxicants.

Eventually, former customers of the beer camp got together and raised $165.31 to pay the remainder of the Uhrichsville man's fine. He then withdrew charges against his alleged partners.

The cancellation of the trial caused many prominent people in New Philadelphia and the Twin Cities to breathe a sigh of relief because they were going to be subpoenaed to testify.

Other notable raids in Tuscarawas County in 1931

These were only two of the liquor raids Smith conducted that year.

On July 9, he and two of his deputies, Carl Scott and M.V. Morris, found a 40-gallon still on a farm along the Tuscarawas River near Port Washington. The still had been used to produce 32 gallons of prune whiskey.

The owner of the still, a farmer and a father of six children, was fined $350 and sentenced to jail. He was allowed out of jail during the daytime so that he could harvest his crops.

In November, Smith and his deputies, along with three Canton police officers, raided a farm two and a half miles southeast of Sandyville.

At the farm, located on a back road, they found a 200-gallon still and 125 gallons of whiskey. The still was one of the largest found in Tuscarawas County in several years. Two Canton men were arrested.

The still was located in a pig pen on a hillside on the farm. It was equipped with a steam boiler, a 500-gallon mash vat, seven 50-gallon barrels used to store the mash, a cooling apparatus and a steam aging plant.

Prohibition ended in 1933.

Jon Baker is a reporter for The Times-Reporter and can be reached at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Beer camps offered illegal brew to Tuscarawas County residents