Skip to Main Content

Live tourists contemplate wax dummy drunks at the Prohibition Museum.
Live tourists contemplate wax dummy drunks at the Prohibition Museum.

American Prohibition Museum

Field review by the editors.

Savannah, Georgia

A plaque at the entrance to the American Prohibition Museum notes that America's first official ban against drinking alcohol was decreed in Savannah in 1735.

One way to dodge the alcohol ban was to sell booze as medicine.
One way to dodge the alcohol ban was to sell booze as medicine.

People in Savannah drank anyway, and not much had changed nearly 200 years later during Prohibition, when the city became the favored destination of criminals hauling hootch in from offshore, and was called "Bootleg Spigot of the South." Savannah even tried to secede from Georgia and become its own state, just so its citizens could drink.

Today, Savannah is one of the few cities in America where it's legal to drink booze from plastic cups while wandering downtown. So it's with a sense of victory that Savannah hosts the American Prohibition Museum, which opened on May 29, 2017.

Wax Carrie Nation at the American Prohibition Museum.
Wax Carrie Nation at the American Prohibition Museum.

Among the museum's dozen galleries are exhibits devoted to rum runners, moonshiners, gangsters, and flappers, populated with custom-made dummies in action poses (Carry Nation, for example, holds aloft her whackin' hatchet next to a smashed-up saloon). The museum displays what it says is the largest collection of moonshine stills in the U.S., and ends its tour in a recreated Speakeasy, where the under-aged and teetotalers can drink nonalcoholic punch while everyone else sips 1920s-era cocktails.

The attraction is run by the same company that owns Potter's Wax Museum and operates the ferry out to the most remote attraction in the continental U.S.

Also see: Museum of Whiskey History

American Prohibition Museum

Address:
209 W. St. Julian St., Savannah, GA
Directions:
Downtown, in the City Market pedestrian mall, a half-block west of Ellis Square. On the south side of W. St. Julian St., between Barnard and Jefferson Sts.
Hours:
Daily 10-5 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Phone:
912-551-4052
Admission:
Adults $12 ($20 w/cocktail)
RA Rates:
Worth a Detour
Save to My Sights

Nearby Offbeat Places

Statue of the Bird GirlStatue of the Bird Girl, Savannah, GA - < 1 mi.
Cracked Earth - A World ApartCracked Earth - A World Apart, Savannah, GA - < 1 mi.
Where Forrest Gump Sat - Bench SiteWhere Forrest Gump Sat - Bench Site, Savannah, GA - < 1 mi.
In the region:
Flea Market Mascot Big Cow, Savannah, GA - 11 mi.

More Quirky Attractions in Georgia

Stories, reports and tips on tourist attractions and odd sights in Georgia.

Explore Thousands of Unique Roadside Landmarks!

Strange and amusing destinations in the US and Canada are our specialty. Start here.
Use RoadsideAmerica.com's Attraction Maps to plan your next road trip.

My Sights

My Sights on Roadside America

Create Your Own Bizarre Road Trips! ...Try My Sights

Mobile Apps

Roadside America app: iPhone, iPad Roadside America app for iPhone, iPad. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! ...More

Roadside Presidents app: iPhone, iPad Roadside Presidents app for iPhone, iPad. POTUS landmarks, oddities. ...More

Georgia Latest Tips and Stories

Latest Visitor Tips

Sight of the Week

Sight of the Week

Easter Island Moai in America (Mar 25-31, 2024)

SotW Archive

USA and Canada Tips and Stories

More Sightings