Prohibition, Riverside,
and the
Mission Inn
Background image courtesy of the Library of Congress
Above: Photograph of Main Street,
Riverside, 1875. The future site of the
Mission Inn is just out of frame, to the far
right.
Left: John W. North’s “A Colony for
California,” the publication that helped
recruit families to establish the new City of
Riverside in 1870.
Mission Inn Museum Collection
Above: Downtown Riverside in 1883, around the time the city split from San
Bernardino County and was officially incorporated. Strict regulation and enforcement
of alcohol violations followed soon after incorporation.
Mission Inn Museum Collection
Above: Riverside’s Temperance Fountain, placed by the Women’s Christian
Temperance Union. The fountain is located on the corner of Mission Inn
Avenue and Orange Street, in front of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum.
Men were encouraged to use the fountain to obtain drinking water instead of
visiting saloons, where they might be tempted to order alcohol instead.
Mission Inn Museum Collection
Right: Photograph of Mission Inn founder Frank A. Miller, 1925.
Below: Aerial view of the Mission Inn, looking North, circa 1935.
Mission Inn Museum Collection
Mission Inn Museum Collection
Left: A 1925 letter from Awoki
Kyōsai Zaidan, a Japanese
temperance organization,
addressed to Frank Miller.
Frank Miller’s extensive travels
put him in contact with many
like-minded people, including
those that supported
prohibition.
“[President Hoover] as we
know, stands expressly for
prohibition. . . I presume he
solidifies more and more the
prohibition policy.”
Mr. Awoki’s organization claimed to “carry on scientific
research work regarding alcohol and disseminate the
knowledge obtained thereby: to united individuals and
organizations in all nations in securing the abolition of
alcohol.”
Above: 1903 journal entry by Frank A. Miller, describing President Roosevelt’s visit and the President’s
decision not to serve alcohol at dinner; a decision favored by early Riverside residents.
Mission Inn Museum Collection
Left: Carrie Nation and her
infamous hatchet. Nation was a
guest at the Mission Inn in
February, 1903, and spoke on the
temperance movement at
Riverside Loring Opera House.
Image courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society
Right: Riverside’s Loring Opera House in
1895, one of the finest and largest opera
houses in the western United States, located
across the street from the Mission Inn.
The original Loring Opera House was
destroyed by fire in 1990.
Image courtesy of UC Riverside Special Collection
and Archives
Left: Article from Riverside Press,
January 15, 1931. Albert Einstein
was in town as part of a trip to CalTech.
Members of his party attended a
New Years eve party at the Mission
Inn and were in awe at the lack of
hip flasks, which were common
place in other parts of the country,
particularly New York City.
“Riverside is one place where the
18th Amendment is being observed.”
Mission Inn Museum Collection
RIVERSIDE ENTERPRISE
RIVERSIDE, CAL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1930
RIVERSIDE ‘WHITE SPOT’ IN LIQUOR ENFORCEMENT
FEDERAL ‘DRY’ AGENT PRAISES CITY OFFICIALS
-----------------
Can’t Buy Whisky in Town, Prohibition Worker Asserts, Law Rigidly Enforced.
----------------“Riverside is the white spot of the Southwest, in point of prohibition enforcement.”
Mr. Mathias, in the city for conference with Sheriff Clem Sweeters and Police Inspector Paul Scott, declared that in his
wide experience in prohibition work in California and other western states he has found no city where liquor enforcement
has been more effective and efficient.
Drawing from his own personal experiences when he donned paint-splotched coveralls and made a first-hand survey of
questionable places in Riverside, the Federal agent declared bootlegging in Riverside has been practically stamped out.
“When I was first assigned to this district,” Mr. Mathias related, “I was anxious to find out through personal experience
just what the situation was in Riverside. I put on old clothes and made the rounds where liquor is generally sold. I
couldn’t buy a pint of whisky anywhere in Riverside.”
Transcript of Riverside Enterprise article, December 4, 1930. Available from Riverside Public Library Local History Collection.