Ione Votes Itself Wet, and Builders Follow
In a 42-to-8 landslide, the Pend Oreille County town chose saloons over dry status—and local boosters said half a dozen business blocks depended on it.
Ione went "wet" Tuesday by an overwhelming vote, 42 to 8. Unless the Anti-Saloon League of the state interferes and wins out on the question of interpretation of the law, the new town will have saloons within a short time. It was said that the erection of half a dozen business buildings hinged on the town going wet.
“It was said that the erection of half a dozen business buildings hinged on the town going wet.”
Washington did not go dry statewide until 1916, but local-option elections like Ione’s were the front line of the temperance war. Today, small towns still argue over whether a liquor license is an economic lifeline or a moral hazard—and whether one vote can remake a main street.
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