The story of Rochelle cannot be told without a mention of the taverns and Cherry Avenue. The 1919 Rochelle newspaper described Lane (Rochelle) thusly, “Lane was always noted for the activity, enterprise, and public spirit of its citizens. It was a fast town in the early days, a wicked town perhaps, as some of its jealous neighbors said, but it was always an emphatically business town.”

From the beginning alcohol was a major part of the business of the town.

One of the earliest entrepreneurs was an elderly woman, “of considerable local celebrity”, known as Peggy. Peggy lived in an old shanty south of the railroad. She was renowned for two things, stealing wood and making whiskey. Both of these activities were looked upon with disfavor by some in the community.

Peggy had a hard life. One time her home burned to the ground, taking not only all of her earthly possessions, but also her supply of whiskey. Another time she was arrested for stealing wood from the railroad. As the paper said, “Peggy made considerable business for the lawyers and created considerable excitement.” The town became less than excited about Peggy’s presence and it was not long before she moved to other locales.

“About the first building erected in Lane for business purposes was a shanty with a railroad car roof. It was opened in 1853 by Johnson Brothers with a stock costing $40. The groceries were of the variety that came in kegs and barrels.” According to the local press, “When Vicksburg surrendered there was a celebration in Lane of the first magnitude. Saloons were common by that time and many men became drunk who had never before become so.”

Early stories of Lane demonstrate how available whiskey was, “It was not hid to keep it from the officers of the law, but to prevent indiscriminate use by whoever happened to see it. It didn’t cost much, but nobody had much to buy it with. Many grocers kept a keg in the rear, with a cup tied to the keg by a string, and regular customers, when they had completed their buying, were free to help themselves to a mouthful. Some of them had very large mouths and unless they were very careful took too much. Yet a drunken man was a rare sight.”

In 1853, Horace Coon built a hotel next to the route of the railroad. The Lane Hotel was later to become known as The Delos Hotel. As travelers were few in the early 1850s, Horace referred to his business as a saloon. The saloon featured a very primitive lavatory located near the office desk. One morning a guest complained to Mr. Coon about the condition of the towel in the lavatory. Mr. Coon said, “What! Why, six or eight men have used it and made no complaint,” at the same time pushing a small tumbler full of whiskey toward the complainant who swallowed the whiskey at a gulp and went to his breakfast, and the whole incident was closed.

In the early days liquor was unregulated. Who could produce, who could sell – all was left to the discretion of those who wished to be in the business.

By 1873, public displays of drunkenness were all too common. The community began to move in two directions: the status quo and prohibition. The Aug. 9, 1873, Rochelle Register expressed concern, “There were not less than 50 drunken men in our city at one time on Sunday last, and in all probability the liquor to make those 50 drunken men was bought in Rochelle. Along in the afternoon one or two improvised fights occurred, and the thing got quite jolly. Any man who does not consider last Sunday’s proceedings a disgrace to any civilized community is unfit for the rights of an American citizen. They were an outrage pure and simple, upon public decency. There is no decent man but has the right to complain. It was really unsafe for a respectable lady to be seen on our public streets after noon last Sunday.”

Two weeks later the Rochelle Register once again featured a letter describing the pitfalls of drunkenness. The writer asked the question of the day, “The authorities have made it legal to make men drunk, why not make it legal to make them sober.”

The headwind of prohibition began to gain force in Rochelle. The Presbyterian Church featured a nationally recognized speaker in 1879, Susan B. Anthony. Famous for her stance on women’s suffrage and prohibition, Ms. Anthony would be honored in 1979 by having her image placed on the one-dollar coin. The path was long and slow but in 1920, the 18th Amendment to the constitution was passed, prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors. Prohibition was the law of the land.

The new law forced what was public to be slightly more discreet. Liquor sales did not stop in Rochelle; they simply went underground. A Rochelle man was arrested, fined $500 dollars, and sentenced to the penitentiary for selling and possessing intoxicating liquor in February of 1925; this was not the first time he had been so charged. Federal agents raided the Rose Garden Café in 1930 and found two cases of bonded whiskey and a gallon of alcohol. The owner was arrested and taken to Chicago for trial and sentencing.

Prohibition was repealed in 1933 and the city was once again faced with several decisions to make. In May of 1933 the Rochelle City Council granted 17 licenses to sell beer in the community. The council charged a $25 license fee annually to each establishment selling alcohol. By 1936 the council approved dancing in taverns. Dancing required a new license with an additional cost of $100 annually. It seems no matter the cost, the demand is there. From the days when “It didn’t cost much, but nobody had much to buy it with”, we seem to be in a time where it doesn’t matter what it costs, people will buy.

Tom McDermott is a Flagg Township Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.