GARDEN CITY — Nestled between two cities and on the edge of a bustling highway intersection, Garden City remains true to its roots as a tiny island of flowering, flourishing sin.

Farmer A.F. Ray, a bootlegger who used hollowed-out melons to cart his moonshine, made it the place to go for a good stiff drink during Prohibition. The area was formally incorporated as Garden City in 1938, and the town boomed as a place to legally buy and drink booze while neighboring Greeley remained dry until 1969.

Today, the town is poised to broaden its freewheeling ways, this time by opening the door to recreational marijuana sales that Greeley, Evans and unincorporated Weld County have banned.

“We stand for individual rights and going against the trends. It’s OK to be different,” said the mayor of Garden City, Brian Seifried. But “it is incredibly ironic that it is so precisely the story from the past.”

Since Colorado voters legalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adults, many municipalities have adopted ordinances to outlaw the recreational business within their boundaries.

Read more: Garden City pot shops give town chance to stand out, repeat history | Denver Post