Westerville has a big, surprising history with alcohol in America, and one hidden bar might be the best way to understand it over a cocktail with someone you like.
Tucked behind a secret door in the basement of High Bank Distillery in Westerville is a bar called P.O. Box 21. It’s not easy to find, but that’s kind of the point. The room is built to look exactly like a post office, fitting since the building used to actually be one.
The name isn’t random, either. “21” stands for the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment or canceled out the infamous 18th Amendment, which had banned alcohol across the country. That ban was otherwise known in pop culture as Prohibition…
Westerville’s Prohibition History
Here’s where Westerville’s history gets interesting: Westerville was the home of the Anti-Saloon League, one of the main groups that pushed for (and helped enact) Prohibition in the first place. So the same city that helped ban alcohol is now home to bars, including a secret one named after the law that ended the ban. It makes for a great story to share while you’re sipping your drinks.
That irony is what makes P.O. Box 21 special. Think about it:
It’s a speakeasy, the kind of hidden bar that only existed because of Prohibition, in the city that helped make Prohibition happen.
It’s named after the 21st Amendment, the law that ended the very thing Westerville’s Anti-Saloon League fought so hard to create.
And it’s run by High Bank Distillery, one of Central Ohio’s favorite spirits makers, meaning the drinks here are a far cry from the homemade “Bathtub Gin” people were sneaking during Prohibition.
There are plenty of bars in Westerville that nod to the city’s place in American history. But none of them pull all the threads together quite like P.O. Box 21, and few make for a better night out.
Check it out in the basement of Westerville’s High Bank Distillery.
📨 P.O. Box Twenty One | 28 S State St, Westerville, OH 43081 | Tue – Thu 4 PM – 10 PM, Fri – Sat 4 PM – 11 PM
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