North Shore Town Grants 1st Liquor License To Store Since 1856

ROCKPORT, MA — In a state where dozens of communities are allowing for the purchase of recreational marijuana, one North Shore town is just now getting around to alcohol. Whistlestop Market will soon become the first Rockport store to sell alcohol for customers to take home since a mob of hatchet-wielding townspeople raided the town's liquor joints and destroyed the product more than 160 years ago.

Last week's Selectmen vote granted Whistlestop the town's only liquor license, marking a 162-year-old first for Rockport. The Gloucester Times first reported the story.

Rockport's unique relationship with alcohol dates back to 1856, when local woman Hannah Jumper led a raid of 200 people through the town. The group, made up primarily of women, went to the establishments that legally or illegally sold alcohol and destroyed whatever containers it was in. And yes, they used hatchets.

Rockport allowed restaurants to serve beer and wine in 2006, and allowed for a grocery store to obtain a liquor license in 2013. With no big-chain supermarkets coming into town since then, the Selectmen granted it to Whistlestop.

The owner of Whistlestop told the Times it would be a few more weeks before the store carried beer and wine. The store will focus on local crafts, but will offer major brands as well.

Read the full Gloucester Times story here.

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