Some US counties, especially in the old northeastern colonies, have the same names as English ones, such as Berkshire, Essex, Kent, Richmond, Suffolk, and Sussex. Others, such as New Haven, New London (Connecticut), and New York (Manhattan), were derived from English ones such as Haven, London, and York. Still others, such as Kings and Queens, were created to honor English monarchs in general.
In my home state of Alabama some counties are still dry. Does that mean people don't drink. Of course not. Growing up I spent half of my time at the river which was in a dry county. My best friend's family had a cabin. Everyone knew which marinas sold beer, even the sheriff. And since it was already illegal, they never cared how old you were. No one ever bothered them. Moonshine was (and still is) big business. It was sold out of private homes. There were signals that the house had product and it was safe that could be seen from the country roads. The one my friends went to used her broom to let customers know if they could come up to the house to buy some white lightning. The position of broom was the tell tell.
Thriftymaid 