Back during the Prohibition Era, an area of Bucks County saw itself involved in the midst of the drama and violence that came with the times. Scott Bomboy wrote about the area’s connection to the time period for the Preserving Perkasie.

While some people consider the Roaring Twenties a simpler wholesome time, Perkasie Borough had its share of drama during prohibition. From 1920 to 1933, the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act put a stop to the sale, manufacture, or transportation of intoxicating spirits, with a few exceptions.

At the time, Perkasie was one of the most populated areas in Bucks County. Instead of lowering alcohol-related incidents, the government ban on “intoxicating spirits” seemed to only create an uptick in general carousing.

During those years, a major distilling operation at the Trio Apartments was shut down by law enforcement, the American House hotel and Fraternity Temple were also raided for retail liquor sales, and there were frequent drunken driving incidents that the police had to deal with.

One of the most notorious cases in the area involved the Rocky Ridge Hotel on Bethlehem Pike, between Perkasie and Quakertown. After a raid on the facility in 1928, a York County couple with similar convictions from the previous year were arrested for selling liquor and “operating a house of ill repute.”

However, prohibition had ended in Perkasie by December 1933.

Read more about Perkasie during the prohibition in Preserving Perkasie.