During Prohibition, Frank Torres's Frank's Place at Moss Beach became one of the San Mateo Coast's most successful speakeasies. Built in 1927 on cliffs above a secluded beach, it drew silent film stars, politicians from the City, and mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, who used it as a setting for one of his detective stories. Its location helped it benefit from clandestine Canadian rum-running, as illegal whiskey was landed on the beach under darkness and fog, hauled up the steep cliff, and loaded into vehicles bound for San Francisco, with some of the liquor ending up in the garage beneath Frank's Place. Using strong political and social connections, Frank Torres operated a highly successful illegal business that, unlike many other coastal speakeasies, was never raided. After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, he remained in the food service business as one of the San Mateo County coastside's most successful restaurateurs. Now called The Moss Beach Distillery, the place still overlooks the ocean coves, and local lore holds that its resident ghost, the Blue Lady, still haunts the premises; her story was featured on the TV program Unsolved Mysteries and seen by millions around the world.
