Prohibition Pittsburgh

by Richard Gazarik

Bootlegging, bombs, murder, and more... all for the price of a drink. This is the history of Prohibition in Pittsburgh.
When you work hard, you play hard, and Pittsburgh is a hardworking city. So, when Prohibition hit the Steel City, it created a level of violence and corruption residents had never witnessed. Illegal producers ran stills in kitchens, basements, bathroom tubs, warehouses and even abandoned distilleries. War between gangs of bootleggers resulted in a number of murders and bombings that placed Pittsburgh on the same level as New York City and Chicago in criminal activity. John Bazzano ordered the killing of the Volpe brothers but did so without the permission of Mafia bosses; his battered body was later found on the street in Brooklyn. Author Richard Gazarik details the shady side of the Steel City during a tumultuous era.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 2, 2017

Reviews

[Bill Justus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting facts, not a riveting read

[Melissa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read after recently reading The First Family as some events appear in both books. All the familiar Pittsburgh names are in this book. The men my steelworker father despised: Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick, along with familiar place names like(Omni) William Penn, McKees Rocks, Herr’s Island, etc. I’m no expert on Pgh. history, but there are some mayors listed which are now place and street names, like Verona and Herron. The book wraps up with the state’s decision to create State Stores. Thank goodness we have Giant Eagle now, right?

[Nick Guzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The excellently researched Prohibition Pittsburgh by Richard Gazarik shines a bright and entertaining light on the boozy secret past of my hometown's role during one of the most controversial eras in American history. It's always a delight for a Pittsburgher to read about familiar names and neighborhoods (or when the two meet, as with the colorfully stubborn and corrupt magistrate John Verona), especially in the context of the carousing, corruption, and crime of the "roaring twenties."

The book is comprehensive and well-written with Gazarik's journalistic pen but a bit scattered in organization, though its singular subject matter gives it a deserved place on the shelf of any history buff living in the 'Burgh.

[Chris Burd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book on local history, well-researched and full of colorful characters and stories. Like many non-fiction books with local appeal and published by smaller publishing houses, it has the potential to be a great book if it had a strong editor.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well chronicled account for local history buffs looking to know a specific development about their region.