Abilene's War With Whiskey & Other Hometown Commotions

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>From the earliest days of Abilene Texas city residents wrestled with the question of whether to allow alcohol - booze -- in the city limits. Abilene was quite wet in its first years. Then quite dry for several decades. Then openly dry but privately wet. And then came Impact. The tiny town - if you could call it a town - was no question about it openly wet with two liquor stores catering to long lines of cars from neighboring Abilene. Eventually Abilenians confronted the issue about openly drinking alcohol in the city with two bitterly-contested elections - in 1976 and 1978 - both sides quoting Scripture to bolster their argument: </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Proverbs 20:1-- </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Wine is a mocker strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. </em></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>1 Timothy 5:23 </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>-- No longer drink water but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. </em></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The city's raging war with whiskey over the years was indeed a </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>frequent ailment</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. But not the only one. Abilene historian Jay Moore explores this and fifteen other colorful hometown commotions including:</span></p><ol><li data-list=bullet><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Moving the courthouse from Buffalo Gap to Abilene.</span></li><li data-list=bullet><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The only legal hanging in Abilene.</span></li><li data-list=bullet><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Prohibiting the Paramount Theatre from showing Sunday movies in the 1930s.</span></li><li data-list=bullet><span class=ql-ui contenteditable=false></span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>And of course the suggestive and hugely successful campaign stirred up by Myrtle in the '90s.</span></li></ol><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>A native Abilenian Jay Moore believes sharing local history strengthens our sense of community. His books include </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Abilene Daily Abilene History In Plain Sight Abilene A to Z</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Legacy: The Dodge Jones Family and Foundation</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. He co-authored </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Abilene Stories</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> with Glenn Dromgoole and Joe Specht. </span></p>