How do you get into The Manhattan?
We have not confirmed it. The Manhattan 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: Sazerac, Ward Eight, and Scofflaw are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
Where The Manhattan sits
The Manhattan is in Sylacauga, Alabama, in Talladega County, in the Deep South of the United States.
This is currently the only verified hidden bar our directory lists in Sylacauga. If you know another, tell us.
Alabama holds ten listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Alabama speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Alabama
Alabama did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1915, five 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, Alabama already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Alabama.
What the newspapers recorded in Alabama
Searching the Library of Congress run of Alabama newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Alabama:
- The Montgomery advertiser, February 5, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Birmingham age-herald, March 31, 1921 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Birmingham age-herald, April 4, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The Birmingham age-herald, September 28, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach The Manhattan by phone on (205) 948-3600 and on Facebook.
The address is 912 W Walnut St, Sylacauga, AL 35150-2836. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For The Manhattan we hold street address, telephone number, and social accounts. We do not yet hold official website, opening hours, a published drinks list, an online booking link, or a listed-building record.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.