Benton’s Saloonkeeper:
George W. Riley
Written by Justin Lamb
George W. Riley, owner of Riley Saloon in Benton
(Courtesy of Greg Riley)
It is hard to image that the sleepy little town of Benton ever had a saloon, but before a local option law was passed by the voters in the late 1890s, Benton was a wet town complete with bars and saloons. One of the most successful of those saloons was operated by George W. Riley of Oak Level.
Born in Yadkin County, North Carolina on October 12, 1862, George W. Riley came to Marshall County in 1879 settling in the Oak Level community. When Riley was twenty-two years old, his father passed away leaving behind a mountain of debt. In order to keep his family from losing everything, Riley built a whiskey still near a spring in Oak Level and he and W.H. Reed began selling white corn whiskey by the quart. The business did very well and Riley was able to pay off his family debt in no time. Soon after, Riley expanded his business and became partners with E.T. Harper in a second distillery.
Riley Saloon on October 20, 1894 which was located where Sugar and Spice is now.
(Courtesy of Tribune-Courier 1991 Pictorial History of Marshall County)
In February 1890, Riley moved to Benton and a few years later he purchased Jess Gilbert’s old law office and opened up a saloon complete with a variety of distilled spirits and a piano. The business did exceptionally well and Riley became well known throughout western Kentucky. The saloon didn’t last long, however, because in 1899 the voters of Benton passed a local option law banning the sale and distribution of alcohol inside city limits. Riley sold his business to Arch Nelson who turned the old saloon into a drug store, Nelson’s Rexall Drugs, which remained in operation until 2012.
Following the closure of his saloon in Benton, Riley owned interests in a saloon in Paducah and ventured in real estate throughout western Kentucky. Riley passed away just a few weeks before his fortieth birthday on September 15, 1902 in Hopkinsville. He was laid to rest in the Riley cemetery in Graves County.