Didya Know? "Bayside Hotel"- Prohibition Times In Keyport

During the times of Prohibition there were many raids on local establishments in Keyport,New Jersey. In particular was the Bayside Hotel with a later name change of the Bayside Tavern but more fondly recalled as "The Bucket of Blood." No doubt to the numerous fights there.

No longer standing the Bayside Hotel was severely damaged by Super Storm Sandy. Our former Keyport Historical Society and Museum which was next door to the Bayside Hotel was also decimated by Super Storm Sandy. This area from lower Broad Street to West Front Street was known as the Barbary Coast. Here were a few establishments of the Barbary Coast including the Bayside Hotel,the Monmouth Hotel, the Raritan Hotel and the Mansion House. In one of these hotels was a hidden room known as a Speakeasy.

During the 1920s-1930s, the Bayside Hotel was the object of several raids by the local police department. They were enforcing the National Prohibition Act which was passed on October 28, 1919. This act stated that Prohibition was the legal prevention of the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933. The Temperance Movement greatly supported and was responsible for the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A little back story on the Bayside Hotel which was owned by the in laws of William Van Mater, my cousin. His wife Mary Wallace Van Mater was a daughter of the Proprietor Mary Wallace and her husband James Wallace of the Bayside Hotel. As a result of numerous violations of the Prohibition Act, Mary Wallace served jail time at the Clinton Woman's Prison. Her husband James also owned a grocery store at the corner of First Street and Myrtle Street. The grocery store was raided because James Wallace was allegedly caught destroying a receptacle containing liquor.

When I was kid this grocery store was a laundromat as I'm sure many of you remember.

Thomas Wallace, son of Mary and James Wallace was the Proprietor of the Bayside Tavern. Under that name Thomas sold it circa 1963.

I have attached a few Keyport Weekly articles pertaining to the arrest and jail time of Mary Wallace.

By Kevin N. Lehman,The Genealogy Chronicler
November 13, 2023