Maine was home to some of the nation’s earliest prohibition legislation. In 1846, the state passed the first laws in the country outlawing the sale of alcoholic beverages except for industrial and medicinal purposes.

In 1851, a stricter statute known as the “Maine Law” prohibited both the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. The measure became a model for prohibition campaigns elsewhere. It was repealed in 1858 and replaced by legislation permitting limited beverage sales. Enforcement remained difficult, and bootlegging was commonplace.

A chronology of regulation

Early restrictions

Maine outlawed alcohol sales apart from specified industrial and medicinal uses.

The Maine Law

A stricter statute prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.

Repeal and limited sale

The Maine Law was repealed and replaced with a measure allowing limited beverage sales.

State regulation

A commission was established to regulate intoxicating liquors retained and sold for medicinal and manufacturing purposes.

Wine and cider

Liquor laws tightened again when sales of wine and cider were prohibited.

Constitutional amendment

An amendment outlawed the sale or manufacture of alcoholic beverages, although cider was omitted.

Temperance organizations

During the nineteenth century, concern about alcohol’s effects encouraged local advocacy groups. Examples included the Sabattus Temperance Union, organized October 25, 1877; the Sebec Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, organized July 23, 1894; and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in Winterport, organized April 29, 1897.

Open nineteenth-century history book in an archival reading room
Historical figure

Neal Dow

Neal Dow, a Portland native and author of the Maine Law, became a prominent advocate of state and national prohibition. He was the Prohibition Party’s presidential candidate in 1880.

In the 1890s, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union also became a major force in the national campaign, with Maine advocate Lillian M. N. Stevens holding an important leadership role.

Enforcement and national prohibition

A Liquor Enforcement Commission was established in 1905 and abolished in 1911. That year, the legislature proposed a constitutional amendment to reverse the prohibition provision adopted in 1883. Voters rejected it by a narrow margin: 60,095 voted yes and 60,853 voted no.

Enforcement was never entirely successful. Before national prohibition took effect, many hotels, restaurants, and other drinking establishments operated under what became known as the “Bangor Plan.” Proprietors paid a set court fine twice a year, while authorities generally tolerated continued operations between those appearances.

Repeal and later control

Maine’s prohibition laws were repealed in 1934, one year after national prohibition ended. A state liquor regulatory body continued to oversee licensing and distribution.

Local variation: Maine communities have historically differed in whether they permit alcohol sales and what kinds of sales they allow. Because local rules and state administrative structures can change, current requirements should be checked with the relevant public authorities.

Alcohol regulation remains part of the broader history of Maine government, public health, local authority, and social reform. The events summarized here explain the state’s influential place in the national temperance and prohibition movements.