Today, January 16, is officially known as National Prohibition Remembrance Day. Spanning the years of 1920 through 1933, Prohibition was a time in American history when the importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages were strictly prohibited by law. While the goal was to improve the general morale and life for the American people, the results of Prohibition were more problems in the long run. It also unintentionally impinged upon the controversial, albeit lucrative, livelihoods of many individuals across the nation, including communities that depended heavily on such practices as moonshine distilling.
One such community here in the Mid-Atlantic even earned the historic moniker for being the “Moonshine Capital of the World.” I am referring to none other than Franklin County, Virginia. Part of the more mountainous region of the state, Franklin County has a long and telling legacy forever tied to the moonshine industry. From legal, everyday living through earlier distilling practices to the later, illegalized dealings and being at the center of the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trials, this Flashback Friday Feature serves as a historic look back at Franklin County’s moonshine history.
A Brief Bit About Distilling Practices in Virginia
Distilling practices have long defined the Virginia landscape, even harkening back to the precolonial era. Records indicate that long before the first European settlers arrived, indigenous peoples who inhabited the area were known to produce alcoholic beverages from corn and other native plants.
When settlers did finally arrive, they brought with them distilling practices that would be recognized as the first-ever moonshine made in America. Documented accounts for this milestone appear in 1620, 13 years after Jamestown was established. The colonists relied on distilling the native corn growing in the region along the James River.
Even more diverse distillation methods emerged on the home front by the time the 1700s rolled around. These were sparked by the arrival of more English settlers, along with Germans and Scots-Irish, who largely settled in what was western Virginia’s backcountry. All of them utilized their own distilling traditions from their unique parent nations. They produced homemade spirits with existing fruits to concoct new forms of brandy as well as grains to craft whiskey.
How Distilling Defined Rural Virginia
The regional production of homemade spirits soon adapted into a thriving way of life among rural Southwestern Virginia. It was seen as essential from both an agricultural standpoint as well as for the fact that road and travel access was largely limited in comparison to more industry-driven locales. Lo and behold, distilling emerged into a lucrative self-made livelihood with farmers utilizing those fruits and grains unable to sell or transport for their own gains. They constructed homemade copper stills and wooden barrels to mix and mash their produce, and the fermentation process took effect.
One household alone could concoct enough liquor to cover the family’s long-term needs and still manage to sell or trade among other community members. Excess grains could then be fed to livestock in what may constitute the first eco-friendly farm practices in the nation.
It should be noted, however, that while thriving in rural communities, the art of homemade distilling was not exclusive to these parts. Spirit crafting was a major way of life for people of all classes and locations throughout the Commonwealth. Even George Washington himself was known to produce his own liquor commercially from his home at Mount Vernon.
War and Taxation
As was the case with many products, taxes were eventually placed on liquor products as a necessary evil to help rectify the costs and carnage of the Revolutionary War. The sentiments such effects left prompted many longtime citizens to go rogue, opting not to license their distilleries or pay the imposed taxes. So emerged the first “moonshiners” in America. A vast majority of moonshiners could be found in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where it was easier to hide their distilling operations accordingly.
Taxes resulting in wartime dilemmas were again enacted as a result of the American Civil War. Congress placed a tax of two dollars on each gallon of whiskey, which was 12 times the cost of the initial making process. Again, this led to an outcropping of illegal distilleries, especially in the vicinity of Franklin County.
Prohibition and Problems
While earlier wartime woes helped to spark the emergence of illegal distilleries, it was the practice of Prohibition (first regionally and then nationally) that was the true instigator of moonshine madness. Early in the 20th century, more and more laws were passed throughout Virginia counties, making rural distilleries increasingly illegal. As the fight heated up, these counties began actively banning both the sale and production of spirits. Then, in 1914, a statewide vote resulted in the total outlawing of alcohol.
Even when Virginia was decreed a “dry state,” moonshining operations persisted. When Prohibition was enacted nationwide in 1920, it ignited a seemingly overnight explosion in regional moonshining throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Some of the bootleggers in this region grew to become quite wealthy. Many even earned tens of thousands of dollars in cash, despite this being in the height of the Great Depression.
The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trials
Owing to the profits the practice promised, illegal bootlegging continued in the mountains after Prohibition officially ended in 1933. The quest to hunt down moonshiners prevailed throughout the nation in an ongoing pursuit between police and residents.
The madness of property raids included total destruction of stills via axes and sometimes even dynamite. Violence and fighting prevailed. Some government officials in Franklin County even accepted bribes, conveniently looking the other way on active bootlegging practices.
The result was more than one million five-gallon cans being used for whiskey storage and 37 tons of yeast being purchased in addition. This drew significant attention and ignited a major investigation.
Even the Franklin County Sheriff himself was outed for having been involved in illegal distilling, along with many surprising figures in what has since come to be known as the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trials. Before it was over, 80 people would be linked to crimes in association with the aforementioned. Jail sentences were just two years, and the fines were surprisingly low. Of 34 indictments, 13 received probation.
Moonshine Capital of the World
Franklin County officially adopted the moniker of “Moonshine Capital of the World” in 2000. But it was known as such much earlier on and for many years. With historians now estimating that 99 of every 100 residents of Franklin County were somehow involved in illegal liquor practices in the 1920s, it only seems fitting. Furthermore, moonshine is still a major industry in the area today.
Many once-illegal moonshine distilleries have since partnered with local historical and tourism-geared organizations to preserve and recognize their storied pasts. You can now visit many of these locations as time-tested area attractions featured on the Mountain Spirit Trail.