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Robbinsville, town in North Carolina's last dry county, narrowly approves alcohol sales

Josh Olalde
/
Unsplash
You can buy beer in wine in Robbinsville —about three and a half hours west of Charlotte — soon. Before, you couldn't.

Voters in a town in North Carolina’s last dry county narrowly approved Tuesday referenda to allow the sale of beer and wine, according to unofficial results.

Robbinsville is located in Graham County, along the Tennessee border — about 200 miles and three and a half hours away from Charlotte.

Town Alderman Brian “Taco” Johnson helped get the referenda on the ballot. He’s not taking a position on alcohol sales but said he hopes they attract more tourists and businesses like breweries to the town.

“We have a lot of vacant buildings in town they can move into if they want to move their business here," Johnson said. "On the bad side, it could be we just have a whole town full of alcoholics laying in the roads and stuff.”

As for existing businesses, Johnson said he believes only about half of Robbinsville’s restaurants and gas stations will try to sell alcohol. He thinks some residents will continue buying their alcohol in the next county over to avoid catching the eye of their neighbors.

In Gaston County, the city of High Shoals also approved Tuesday the sale of wine and beer.

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Lisa Worf traded the Midwest for Charlotte in 2006 to take a job at WFAE. She worked with public TV in Detroit and taught English in Austria before making her way to radio. Lisa graduated from University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English.