Moving History Forward: Cd'A went 'dry' ahead of its time

First of two parts

As the United States entered the 20th century, two important issues came together in a manner that would forever change our culture and economics.

The first issue was the decades old and ever-increasing pressure for the country to enact laws which would make the production, sale and consumption of alcohol illegal.

Second was the reality that over 50% of the revenues coming into the federal government were from the taxation of breweries, distilleries, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages.

That being the case, how could Congress make alcohol illegal and thereby destroy the federal government’s main “cash cow” and still be solvent?

The solution advanced was that perhaps an income taxing scheme might be the way to solve the problem. So, in 1916 the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, which ushered in the Internal Revenue Service.

From the start, the money coming into federal coffers was so great that there was no longer any fiscal reason to not “go dry.” So, in 1918, federal “Prohibition” was passed and the 18th Amendment was soon ratified by the States.

However, Idaho was ahead of the feds. Idaho Gov. Moses Alexander had run on a platform to make Idaho legally dry, and soon it became law in 1916. What’s more, Coeur d’Alene was ahead of the state. In the winter of 1911, Coeur d’Alene’s city council had enacted a dry ordinance.

Christian Bernhardt arrived in Coeur d’Alene in June of 1907 with the intention of building a magnificent brewery in the city. His timing was terrible. If only he could have seen the future.

Bernhardt was a German immigrant who was an experienced brewer. His initial selling of stock was so successful that he incorporated with local businessmen to form Bernhardt, Dollar and Sanders, Inc. So, in 1907, 400,000 bricks were ordered and construction began on west River Avenue near the old wooden bridge. By late 1908, beer was starting to flow. A contest was held to name the new beer with first place being $100 in stock. The winning name was “Prince of Pilsen.”

In bringing the beer into production, many creditors were acquired. Few were being repaid. The lawsuits began to accumulate. Stockholders rebelled, thinking Bernhardt and Sanders were fraudulently running the business. Sales of the beer had not reached a sufficient level to cover costs, so on June 30, 1909, bankruptcy was declared.

The brewery was closed, sold and reopened. However, the events of going dry by city, state and then nation-wide legislation ultimately closed it for good. It would not be until 1933 that Prohibition was repealed by the 21st Amendment.

Over the following decades, the old brewery became a cannery followed by a meat and grain storage business, a boat works and finally a U.S. Forestry storage depot. In 1965 the building was razed and the bricks sold. The land was sold to North Idaho College in 1968.

Few Americans are alive today to recall the effects of the 18th and 21st Amendments on our national lives, but we are all very much aware of the effects of the “experiment” called the 16th Amendment (aka IRS).

The Museum of North Idaho will hold a “virtual gala” as noted below. No need for a designated driver!

Edited and Researched by Debbie Mitchell and Dorothy Dahlgren