Author Event with Phillip Gibbs: Sex, Liquor, & Lawlessness in Early Roanoke
Venue: Blacksburg Books, Blacksburg
Date: Friday, May 8, 2026
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Event Types: Miscellaneous, Speaking Engagements
Cost: Free
Description:
Blacksburg Books presents an Author Event with Phillip Gibbs featuring "Sex, Liquor, & Lawlessness in Early Roanoke" on Friday, May 8, 2026.

Author Phillip Andrew Gibbs explores Roanoke's early criminal underworld and how civic leaders and law enforcement struggled to free the city from its wild, wicked, and unrepentant reputation.

During the 1880s, the new city of Roanoke attracted a large and diverse workforce and a multitude of merchants and investors. But like the Western cow towns and mining camps of the same period, the city also attracted sex workers, professional gamblers, charlatans, and common thieves. By the early 1900s, Roanoke had become well known for its brothels, saloons, gambling halls, and rampant lawlessness.

Despite a campaign to clean up the city, Roanoke was unable to shake its unsavory image. This was particularly true after Virginia went dry in 1916. With easy access to the moonshine whiskey that had long been produced in the surrounding mountains, bootleg kingpins boldly transported illegal liquor into the city and used violence to protect their operations.

Join us at Blacksburg Books to learn more!

Blacksburg Books is located at 401 South Main Street, Suite 106 in Blacksburg, VA.

For more information, visit: https://www.blacksburgbooks.com/events/author-event-with-phillip-gibbs or https://www.facebook.com/Blacksburg.Books or https://www.instagram.com/blacksburg_books/ or call 540-315-9650 or email info@blacksburgbooks.com with questions.
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