WINONA, Texas ?" Across the country, many localities still forbid the sale of some or all types of liquor, but that has been changing recently, USA Today reports. Places like Winona, Texas, have begun legalizing alcohol sales in order to revitalize dying communities and to increase tax revenues.

When Prohibition banned the sale, production and consumption of alcohol in 1920, the entire United States became a dry country. In 1933, when Prohibition was repealed, states were able to regulate alcohol how they saw fight. The result was a mismatch of state and county or town laws and regulations.

Now, one in nine counties are "dry," but that number has been shrinking lately. During the past eight years, more than a dozen states have reversed the ban on selling alcohol in Sundays.

Winona held a referendum last November to vote on changing from dry to wet. Winona Mayor Rusty Smith said, "It almost seems like we??re behind the times [because we were dry]." The wets prevailed by a slim margin and Winona residents can now purchase alcohol within the city limits.

"I??ve never understood why you have to leave the county to buy beer to enjoy in the privacy of your own home," said Smith. Since the vote, four liquor stores have come to town with more in the planning stages. The town??s sales tax revenue jumped from around $2,200 a month to $11,000 in May.