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This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission

First ABC Store, NC Historical Marker. by Armistead Jones Maupin, 2006

See Also: Prohibition; Anti-Saloon League; Temperance Movement

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission was created by the General Assembly in 1937 to regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages in North Carolina after the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition). The modern commission consists of a chair and two associate members appointed by the governor. Its duties include supervising local ABC stores for the sale of spirituous liquors, determining what brands of alcoholic beverages may be sold, maintaining the state ABC warehouse for the distribution of spirituous liquors, regulating the sale of wine and beer, and issuing permits for wineries, breweries, wholesalers, and retailers. The ABC Commission also sets standards and adopts rules for malt beverages, unfortified wine, fortified wine, and spirituous liquors to protect the public against beverages containing harmful or impure substances.

Additional Resources:

North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission: http://abc.nc.gov/

Image Credit:

First ABC Store, NC Historical Marker.  Image Courtesy of Flickr user Jimmy Wayne. Available from https://ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=F-68.(Accessed Mar. 6, 2024).