The Prohibition Era, designed and enforced to thwart the American people from subjecting themselves to the curse of alcohol, ended on December 5, 1933. The North Plank Road Tavern in Newburgh has celebrated the end of Prohibition for    40 years and continued the tradition of celebrating Prohibitions’ end with their annual celebration on Tuesday, December 5, 2023.

The Prohibition Era in America began on January 17, 1920 when the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was passed, which banned the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. The legislation was also known as the Volstead Act, named after Andrew Volstead. The period of Prohibition saw the rise of organized crime and bootlegging in the United States along with speakeasies and other locations providing customers with alcoholic beverages. Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933 with the 21st Amendment ratification which repealed the 18th Amendment.

The North Plank Road Tavern, built in 1801, has been under the care and ownership of Thomas Costa and his family since it was first bought in 1978. Artifacts from the Prohibition era and those who once spent time within the tavern are put on display in the tap room and across the various seating areas of the tavern.

According to Zachary Costa, Thomas’s son, the tavern’s history with Prohibition can be traced back to a former landlady, Mrs. Augusta Sauer, who openly continued serving alcohol in 1920 when Prohibition came into effect. Famous gangster and bootlegger Dutch Schultz was also said to have visited the tavern back then. Sauer would later sell the tavern to Anthony “Mitch” Nixon, who was also said to be involved in organized crime and bootlegging. Nixon took ownership of the tavern in 1928. Years later, the tavern was at the risk of being demolished but it was able to be saved just in time by Costa.

Seeing people have fun during the course of the afternoon into evening in the tavern was enjoyable for Costa. “I’m having fun. That’s what we’re here for,” said Costa.“This has basically been my life’s work. I mean, I do other things. This is more of a vocation than a job. And keeping the place from destruction and celebrating history have been very important to me.”

With tables dressed and silverware shined, dishes were being prepared and multiple glasses were ready to be poured for patrons. “Came out to support a local business that has a classic location in historic Newburgh, and Tom and his family have kept this going for many years,” said Sheldon Stowe.

“We’ve enjoyed this place off and on for years, really used to kind of live in the neighborhood and now we don’t, but we still, you know, try to stop in at least once or twice a year, ” said Michele Stowe. “Just the fact that it’s this neat little piece of architecture kind of tucked in on a city street, it’s special and it deserves to be saved and kept, kept as it was.”

During the afternoon, the tavern was filled with laughter, conversation, the bustling of servers with food and drinks and jazz music performed by Tony DePaolo on the guitar, Walker Adams on drums and Nate Allen on the bass. DePaolo, who personally has performed at the party for the tavern for the past five years, shared that he has taken the time to learn popular songs from the 1920’s to play for the crowds in attendance and always looks forward to performing at the tavern each year with his material.

“I honor this music and the tradition of it, because history means a lot to me. I’m thrilled to be here because it’s music that I don’t normally get to play,” he said. “These are songs that I had to learn as a child, when I was studying music and learning from my father [Tony DePaolo Sr, saxophonist and singer] and it’s all come back around to me, it’s like, it’s always in the back of my mind. And the songs are classic songs.”

As the evening came closer, Costa took to the center of the dining room, motioned for attention from the crowd and thanked them for coming and celebrating another Prohibition end celebration with him, his family and the tavern staff. “Thank you guys for coming to our celebration of the end of Prohibition and that craziness that was “no you can’t have a glass of wine with your dinner,” said Costa. “We’re very happy that you’re here. Thank you for supporting us. We hope to see you again.”