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30. The Saloon Boom
As early as 1870, there were about 100,000 saloons in America. By 1900, that figure had tripled to roughly 300,000. In the days before strict zoning laws were a thing, saloons were often found in the heart of residential neighborhoods.
The reek of whiskey and stale beer combined with the stench of vomit and the sight of drunkenly boisterous and staggering men – when they were not passed out on the sidewalks – to turn saloons into eyesores and nuisances.