The state of Alabama has been first in many historical events.  Alabama was the first state to make Christmas a holiday and host an open-heart surgery; both events occurred in 1836.  One of the most interesting firsts happened in 1907.  Alabama enacted the law of prohibition twelve years before the Federal Government.

It was hard for state officers to enforce the law, but local sheriffs and law enforcement officers were more successful.  The upstanding citizens of Elmore County were almost completely in favor of prohibition. They helped law enforcement officers find those selling and transporting illegal liquor. Â