History

The History of ABC Boards and the Lincoln County ABC Board

1937……The North Carolina General Assembly created the foundation for the ABC system we operate under today by enacting an Alcoholic Beverage Control bill.  By enacting this bill, it allowed voters in each NC county to vote whether or not spirituous liquor should be sold at retail. 

Today…Currently there are 171 local ABC systems/boards operating across North Carolina.  These boards are city/county appointed entities which are responsible for controlling the sale of spirituous liquor is their respective city/county.  The boards establish operational policies, ensure compliance with state laws, and distribute profits to local government, law enforcement, and education. 

Lincoln County ABC…. The Lincoln County ABC board formed shortly after voter approval in 2002.  The referendum passed with 7284 votes for and 6033 against.  Following the establishment of the board, (a chairman and two members) Lincoln County ABC board decided to build is first stand-alone retail location which opened June 1st 2004.  For the next 10 years Lincoln County ABC, located only on the Eastern end of Lincoln County, grew at an exponential rate.  With this growth the board decided it was time to provide the Western end of the county with the same atmosphere in which they had established in the Eastern end. 

Lincoln County ABC store #2…. In September of 2016 the board decided to build its second location at the intersection of Hwy. 27 and Hwy 18.  Store 2 has proven to be a profitable store for the last 10 years which in turn allows Lincoln County to add addition funds to the county’s general fund.

With the Eastern area growing and developing at a rapid pace, store 1 couldn’t comfortably provide the type of service that it wanted to provide to it residents.  The parking lot had become a crash test site and the store itself couldn’t keep up with demand and continuous introduction of new product.  In 2019 the board and then General Manager Johnny Helms started laying the ground work for a third store.  This store would hopefully take some of the pressure off of store 1 and allow it to get back to “comfortable operation.”

Lincoln County ABC store #3….  In June of 2020 Lincoln County opened the doors to its newest and biggest store.  Store #3 is located at 2856 N. Hwy 16 Business.  This store would prove to do its job and alleviate some of the traffic going into Store 1. 

This alleviation would be short lived as the growth in the area continued.  As more and more residents moved in, store 1 would once again prove to be too small. 

Lincoln County ABC Store #1 (New)…. Starting in 2023 the Board and current GM would start laying to ground work to build a bigger and better store #1.  By building this store new 10,000 sq. ft.  building, Lincoln County ABC would ensure that they could keep up with the current growth of the area.  Since moving into the new space in April of 2025 the store has proved to provide the residents in the area with one of the best Liquor Stores in the state.