Seattle was ideally suited during Prohibition. That is, to
violate
Prohibition.
It was a major port at which to smuggle in goods from the Pacific, a sea border with Canada that turned Puget Sound into a bootlegging turnpike of fast and stealthy rumrunning boats.
And it had an eager populace in an open town. A diverse town, too, with all kinds of appetites. You’ve heard of bathtub gin and stills turning out cheap whiskey. But have you heard of the Northwest’s sake moonshiners?
Washington went dry before the rest of the nation. Booze was restricted by 1916. During World War I, the government would not allow alcohol sales within 10 miles of a military installation, and Seattle had a number of those, like Fort Lawton.