Update: You can now watch the presentation here.
Join the Lafayette Historical Society for a presentation by Leslie Crenna at the Lafayette Branch of the Contra Costa County Library in the Don Tatzin Community Hall, 3491 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA, Thursday, July 31, 2025. Doors open at 6:30pm. Presentation and questions: 7:00pm to 8:30pm.
Despite just a few saloons dotting this rural locale, the temperance-minded hamlet of Lafayette voted itself dry twice before federal Prohibition came into force across the country in 1920. Ten years beforehand, community members like blacksmith Peter Thomson, postmaster Carrie Van Meter, and General Merchandise store owner Robert Elam McNeil, successfully testified to deny the proprietors Williams & Vossler of the New Lafayette Hotel a liquor license.
But it wasn’t enough. Moonshiners proliferated with one of the biggest busts countywide in the Reliez Valley in 1929. Repeal at the end of 1933 and the inauguration of the Lafayette Horseman’s Association Horse Show in 1935 cued resilient businessmen like Lou Borghesani to start what became and still survives today as the Roundup Saloon.
Leslie Crenna will tell the story of the Prohibition in the Lamorinda area, focusing specifically on Lafayette, Contra Costa County, drawing on newspaper reports, primary research documents, and the photo collections of the Lafayette and Contra Costa County historical societies. Some national and state level context will frame a main focus on Contra Costa County developments as well as Lamorinda residents and businesses of the past. Curious community members are encouraged to share family Prohibition stories to deepen our collective knowledge. Please join us!
Leslie Crenna is an amateur historian focusing on Prohibition in California. She discovered that her Italian great-grandparents’ Concord Winery had been killed by Prohibition and has had the bug ever since. Leslie has experience in education, communications, community engagement, and editorial freelancing. She majored in Linguistics at UC Santa Cruz and holds a multi-subject teaching credential from San Francisco State University. For more information or to share your family’s stories and photos, contact lesliecrenna@gmail.com.
Below is the full flyer:
Leave a Reply