How do you get into The James Drinkery?
We have not confirmed it. The James Drinkery is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
Drinks of the era
We have not seen this venue’s own list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Sidecar, Boulevardier, and Vieux Carré are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
The building
Documented — The James Drinkery occupies the Baxter Clock, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 73001319. The listing is a federal record maintained by the National Park Service, and the nomination document is the primary source for the building’s architectural and social history.
National Register reference 73001319 · NPS nomination document
Where The James Drinkery sits
The James Drinkery is in New Bern, North Carolina, in Craven County, in the South Atlantic of the United States.
Our directory currently lists three speakeasies and hidden bars in New Bern — too few for a city guide of its own yet, so they sit on the North Carolina page until there are more.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to The James Drinkery are Harry’s Blind Tiger, a few doors away and Harrys Blind Tiger, about 650 m away.
North Carolina holds 42 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our North Carolina speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in North Carolina
North Carolina did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1909, eleven years before the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. By the time the Volstead Act was being enforced across the country, North Carolina already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in North Carolina.
What the newspapers recorded in North Carolina
Searching the Library of Congress run of North Carolina newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from North Carolina:
- Roanoke Rapids herald, September 30, 1921 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The independent, June 2, 1922 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The independent, May 8, 1925 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The independent, March 25, 1927 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
Hours published by the venue:
- Friday 2pm-1am
- Saturday 1pm-1am
- Sunday 12pm-7pm
- Wed-Thurs 3pm-10pm
Hours as published on the venue’s own site, retrieved 9 October 2026.
You can reach The James Drinkery through its own website and on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
The address is 317 Pollock Street, New Bern, NC 28560. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For The James Drinkery we hold street address, official website, social accounts, opening hours, and a listed-building record. We do not yet hold telephone number, a published drinks list, or an online booking link.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Two independent open datasets, OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps, both carry this venue at this location. Agreement between them is the strongest existence check we can make without visiting.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.