Happy Hour with the Historian | Rum Running in South Florida: Prohibition from Key West to Miami

The Key West Art & Historical Society is excited to offer a series of fun historical lectures entitled ‘Happy Hour with the Historian’.

Historian: Cori Convertito Ph.D.

Topic: Rum Running in South Florida | Prohibition from Key West to Miami

When Prohibition in the United States took effect in 1920, it reshaped American life, but nowhere more dramatically than along the coastlines of South Florida.

With its proximity to Havana and the Bahamas, and its labyrinth of islands, inlets, and shallow waters, the region became a natural gateway for the illegal liquor trade. From Key West to Miami, networks of smugglers moved alcohol by sea under the cover of darkness, supplying a demand that never disappeared.

At the same time, federal authorities, particularly the United States Coast Guard, struggled to enforce the law across a vast and difficult maritime landscape. Their efforts led to a constant contest between enforcement and evasion, marked by surveillance, pursuit, and adaptation on both sides.

For local communities, Prohibition was more than a legal restriction; it was an economic reality. In places like Key West, where traditional industries had declined, smuggling offered both risk and opportunity, blurring the line between survival and criminality.

This talk examines the development of the illegal liquor trade in the Florida Keys and South Florida, the challenges of enforcement, and the ways in which geography, economy, and culture shaped one of the most active smuggling regions in the United States.