 After opening the Holladay Distillery in 1856, Benjamin J. Holladay went on to develop the Pony Express route to San Francisco as well as build steamships and railroad lines in western America.In 1860, Holladay turned the distillery over to his brother, Major David Holladay, who then ran the Distillery until 1894 when it was sold to George Shawhan and became the Shawhan Distillery.During the period of Prohibition in the United States, the company remained open by bottling its previously distilled whisky for medicinal purposes.