RUM RUNNERS

LAKE ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA

There Is Now

Here’s the Rum Runner story...

In the dead of night, without running lights, a steady stream of wooden speedboats criss-crossed Lake Erie from Canada to the US. with an illegal cargo of outlaw whiskey. It was Prohibition in America and the demand for “decent” booze enticed a small navy of bootleggers - called Rum Runners - to brave Lake Erie’s dangerous unpredictability.

From Port Colburne on the Welland Canal to Port Dover in Long Point Bay - and from elsewhere in Ontario - case upon case of premium Canadian liquor was stacked upon the small but sturdy craft. Some of them headed for the fine harbor of Presque Isle Bay where armed guards supervised the transfer to awaiting trucks for delivery to local speakeasies and downstate clients. And many of those made port at the numerous, clandestine wharfs of the old east Bayfront.

In their memory, there is now a wicked harbor bar in Lake Erie called Rum Runners that we highly encourage you to visit!