Follow Up: Origin of Cold Beer Ban in Oxford

Board of Alderman voted to allow cold beer sales in Oxford Tuesday night / Photo by Justin Taylor

With the recent approval by the Board of Aldermen to allow cold beer sales in Oxford, questions have been raised as to when exactly the ban was passed.

According to Oxford Mayor Pat Patterson, the sale of beer and spirits were prohibited in Oxford following World War II. Liquor sales were again allowed in the city limits starting in 1967, following the passage of a local option law by the State of Mississippi.

Off premise beer sales were not legalized again in the city until 1972, when Oxford Mayor John Leslie engineered a compromise that allowed for only the sale of non-refrigerated beer. This ordinance remained in effect until August 20, 2013. — Justin Taylor, senior journalism major, Meek School of Journalism and New Media

Email Justin Taylor at jdtaylo2@go.olemiss.edu