The Art of Rumrunning & Other Stories

According to “Rum War At Sea,” by Malcolm Willoughby, a book published by the US government (and not likely to be found on the “best seller” list) during Prohibition Half Moon Bay was the biggest supplier of illegal booze on the West Coast.

In the 1920s the Coastside was sparsely populated. While there was an abundance of isolated beaches, where the booze was landed, there was a lack of prohibition agents to arrest anyone. One reason was because the roadhouse owners had their “connections.” If an agent was headed for the Coastside to raid the Patroni House or the Miramar Beach Inn or the Moss Beach Distillery, a quick phone call alerted the owners in advance–so they could hide the bottles of whiskey in secret hiding places that had been custom-made by local carpenters.

…to be continued…