Water for human consumption? 'Cause otherwise the answer is fountains, swimming pools and golf courses.
A Google Maps search for Bars in Hurley, Wisconsin. shows 17 of them in the town of 1,500. – more than one per 100 residents. All within a short walk of miners and loggers in Ironwood, strapped by Michigan’s less-forgiving liquor laws
The mother of one of my best friends grew up in Hurley, and it’s long had a reputation as a Northwoods party town, and was a known hangout for mobsters during Prohibition.
I’ve said this before here, but having grown up in Wisconsin, and having been in many small towns in the state, this is pretty much a truism:
- Even the smallest hamlet in Wisconsin will have a bar
- If the town is a little bit bigger, it’s more likely to have a second bar, rather than having a church
- A little bit bigger still, and it’ll definitely have both a second bar and a church
In small town MO it was said that:
Every town has 2 churches. The one you belong to and the one you’d never set foot in!
I wonder how much that same attitude applies to the two bars in town? 
I grew up near Kenobi, maybe the same county. Wisconsin bars are locally called “taverns” and often have a short menu — very,very good places to stop for lunch. My town of 5,000 had at least eight in the 3-block long Main Street.
For the record, I grew up in Green Bay; the friend I mentioned was from Rhinelander, and her mom was from Hurley.
And, yes, “taverns” – one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the state is, in fact, the Tavern League of Wisconsin. 
Agreed, the Tavern League of Wisconsin is like our version of the NRA. They even managed to stop some legislation about tougher DUI laws because it would hurt the ‘culture’. That’s right, they defended our lax DUI laws by suggesting that drinking and driving is a sacred thing.
It’s odd, growing up in Wisconsin, I never really realized how much we drink in this state until I was off to college and met people from other states. For example, I was surprised to learn that drinking a few beers before going to the bar with friends (because it’s cheaper) isn’t common elsewhere. In fact, drinking more than a few beers in a night isn’t nearly as common as I thought. I have plenty of friends that can put away 6+ beers and still appear sober. Personally, I’m a lightweight. I’m ready for bed after one beer.
Many, many years ago I had a friend in town (she’s from Wisconsin also). While driving down a main street in my suburb she asked why there were so many bars. I had never given it much thought, but yeah, there was a 2 or 3 or 4 bars on every block. Granted, it’s because it’s across the street from a large factory and she didn’t grow up in a blue collar town, but still a lot of bars. And on top of that, many of them are (or were) 3rd shift bars, meaning a lot of them open at 6 am and it’s not uncommon to find people already falling off their bar stool at 8 in the morning.
I’m in Milwaukee. Madison probably drinks more than we do, but it’s a college town. Not like a town with a college, but the entire city is like one big college campus so it’s to be expected. I can’t tell you how many people have learned the hard way to get out of the city on Halloween because it gets so out of hand.
Also, while I haven’t had the chance to do it yet, I’m led to understand that La Crosse (and to a lesser degree, Eau Clare) takes Oktoberfest very seriously. But in a fun way, not a scary way.
TLDR: We drink a lot in Wisconsin. Cite: Spent my entire life in Milwaukee (and college in Kenosha).
ETA, a few years ago I saw Anthony Jeselnik. In the middle of his set he stopped to make the comment that he was about halfway through the beer he was drinking and one of the people in the audience had just opened his 4th beer. He wasn’t being judgemental about it. More shocked that someone could drink that much in such a short amount of time.
One of my good friends is from Mukwonago, WI, and went to school in Madison.
When they started their family, it was imperative that he – the dad – start jogging with the kids in the baby jogger, to all of the local microbreweries.
Frequently.
As the kids got old enough, he focused his attention on the more ‘family friendly’ microbreweries that offered a children’s play area.
A few of us looked askance at the whole thing, but it was as natural as anything for him 
Bad Wisconsin joke: “She begged him to kiss her where it stinks. So he threw her in the car and drove her to Cudahy!”
Cudahy, Wisconsin where the official motto is “A bar on every corner and two in between,”
Drive through that town and be in awe of all the bars. And then realize some of the residential houses you passed also had a sign in the window and were, in fact, licensed taverns as well.
Of course, the official incorporated name of the city is Cuda. But for years when you asked someone who lived there where they were from they’d reply “I’m from Cuda, hey.” (that’s just the way they talk). So eventually people just started calling the place Cudahy. True story, look it up in your Funk and Wagnalls.
So was smoking in a bar but they kind of rolled over and played dead on that.
Yeah, so, when I mentioned driving my friend through a suburb of Milwaukee. It was Cudahy. We were driving down Packard Ave. We were at about the middle of Ladish when started noticing that there was, literally, a bar on every corner and at least one or two on every block in addition to the ones on the corners.
Still surprised about that one.
Also, still surprised when I walk into Potawatomi and get hit with a wall of smoke when I open the door.
I truly, honestly thought the ‘if you don’t want to breathe in second hand smoke go work/drink elsewhere’ argument would work for them. I even talked to a few bar owners that didn’t allow smoking to begin with that were against the smoking ban. From their POV, being a smoke free place was a way to draw in customers. The ban meant they lost that advantage.
Of course, if you know where to look, you can still find bars that’ll let you smoke, but they’re pretty rare at this point. At the beginning of the ban, one such place charged you a dollar for an ashtray. The money went towards any fines they might get if they got caught.
That’s an excellent point about non-smoking establishments losing their advantage. I predicted that within a decade most places would be smoke free anyway. The government did not need to stick it’s nose into that.
One of my sons owned a small bar and grill on the other side of Pell Lake down in the Lake Geneva area. When he first opened up and was securing all his permits and licensing both the village president and police chief told him they weren’t going to enforce th state ban. That was almost eight years ago and he sold the business so I don’t know if that still is the case there.
A bar-owning friend of mine fought the cigarette ban, with my help. He spent thousands of dollars and we won!!
Immediately after winning the suit, he made his bars smoke free.
I think you said that sorta backwards. Try this version:
That’s right, they defended our lax DUI laws by suggesting driving to the bar where they can sell you a drink is a sacred thing. Drinking at home? Not sacred at all.
The Tavern League of Wisconsin, despite it’s name, deals with any establishment that sells alcohol, not just bars. Just like the NRA is about guns in general, not just rifles.
They just wanted to make sure the laws are lax enough that people won’t drink less due to being concerned about losing their license or ending up in jail. They don’t want you to drive to the bar, have two drinks and then a few glasses of water over the next two hours before driving home sober. They want you to have a few beers at home, 3 margaritas at the bar and still be able to stop at the store and pick up a case of Bud Light for the bonfire everyone is going to sit around before they go home.
Now I’m really confused.
You seem to be saying the Tavern League is really the alcohol lobby, not the drinks-by-the-glass lobby. So certainly bars, restaurants, hotels, and such, but also (and perhaps more importantly) Including package stores, grocery stores, etc. IOW, anyone selling alcohol in any form.
But the TLW “about” page makes it pretty clear they’re the lobby for just the by-the-glass sales. Or else their euphemisms are so well-honed they fooled me.
Which in turn raises an interesting question: Whether someone will spend more money at the bar whether they’re pre-lubricated at home or not.
On the one hand, they’re farther down the “Oh heck, who cares what it costs? Besides, why quit now!” curve. On the other hand the customer is starting out closer to whatever personal limits they may have, be those voluntary (2 drinks max for me!) or involuntary (after 12 drinks I pass out).
From their membership page: “Any business, located in any municipality within the state of Wisconsin which is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for either on premises consumption or for off premises consumption, shall be entitled to membership in this corporation.”
In short, anyone that sells alcohol in WI can join the TLW and while their focus is mainly on bars, they’ll still help stores as well.
Wisconsin pronunciation guide
Mukwonago – mc-WANNa-go
Cudahy – CUDDa-hay
Pottawatomi – potta-WATTa-me, an exempt Indian casino
I always feel uneasy when I read words I don’t know how to say
Like hell they do. They may allow stores that sell alcohol to join but that is basically just smoke and mirrors. The league wants you in a bar, restaurant, or licensed festival drinking and that is their primary focus. They routinely endorse and help lobby for municipal ordinances that limit beer sales to 9pm even though state law says midnight. Then they hypocritically help push those ordinances under the guise that it combats drunk driving.
Need I remind you that during my first career I was a compliance investigator in the vice sector. I dealt with representatives from the league. They don’t actually give a rip about their members who don’t provide on site consumption. They do not want you drinking at home.
Hurling in Hurley, a common occurence.