Here is a bit of history to enjoy from Castella and to add a bit more - our very own cottages were also a favorite stay for JFK, an unknown fact to many, resulting from long ties with Castella to President Hoover and William Randolph Hearst. Current owners Brian Theriot and his wife Melissa Crow-Theriot enjoy decades of presence in Castella with Brian's grandfather and grandmother moving to Castella in the 60's to become town leaders and beloved friends to all of Castella's legends and tales.
CASTELLA SALOON BUSINESS
The upper Sacramento River Canyon found itself a new industry with the establishment of prohibition in 1920, The manufacturing of illegal alcohol. Castella, California became the center of the alcohol business in Northern California. The still operators would pool all their alcohol and then hire a person to haul the load of illegal alcohol to the Sacramento Valley and other large cities to the south.
The Volsteads Enforcement Act did little to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed in the local area. The men in Castella were made up of miners, mill workers lumberjacks and railroad workers, who all had the reputation of being hard drinkers.
The alcohol manufacturing stills and bootleggers over the next ten years showed up on almost every creek, spring or water ditches. Most of the alcohol manufactured from a still had names like, Jackass Brandy, Bathtub Gin, or Rot Gut. Jackass brandy was distilled from fruit juices, sugar and wheat, Bathtub Gin was made from high grade alcohol. Gin sold for $2.00 a fifth, Brandy sold for $ 6.00 and all kinds of wine for $ 3.50 per gallon.
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