06/17/2026
Some interesting Tryon history!
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝟴𝟲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁.
It was 1934. North Carolina had been dry since 1908 — twenty-six years before a man named 𝗣𝗼𝗽 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲 opened Pop’s Beer Garden in a small brick building just up from the Oak Street corner and did something nobody in this town had done legally in a generation.
He poured a cold one.
Brave? 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦.
Scandalous? Depends who you asked!
Necessary? Let’s not pretend everyone was heartbroken.
Pop’s was reportedly the first establishment in Tryon to legally sell beer after Prohibition’s repeal. And once that door opened, it stayed open.
A bar held that address for decades through name changes, new owners, and probably more than a few conversations that sounded important at the time. Whitey’s. Sam’s Place. Doc’s, named for Horace “Doc” Sain, who ran it until he didn’t. Eventually, the business moved one door down and became Preston’s, but 86 North Trade had already written its chapter.
Today, it’s the 80Six Gallery. The name comes with the building. And according to the historic district documentation, the interior retained its original pressed-tin ceiling — one of those details old buildings keep around so they can quietly judge the rest of us.
As for Trade Street itself?
Tryon now has an open container ordinance. Which means you can buy a drink and walk the whole street with it.
Twenty-six years dry.
Ninety years later, you can just… 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭.
History is funny like that. Sometimes it takes a generation to pour one legal beer. Sometimes it looks around decades later and says, “Actually, take it to go.”
Pop would have thoughts.
📍 Follow along as the Tryon History Museum walks Trade Street, one address at a time.
