Moonshine

Bob_Luken

Went hiking last weekend up in the Cumberland Mountains and revisited a trail we had hiked before but there was an interpretive exhibit sign out on the trail that wasn’t there last time. This makes the second place I’ve been hiking at that had remnants of an old moonshine still, and according to the sign, there’s at least one more I can visit. I thought the disclaimer at the bottom of the display was amusing.
_The production of moonshine, or any unlicensed alcohol, is illegal in Tennessee. This information is presented for historical purposes only_.

The following is the full text I scanned from the photo if you’d wish to read it.

Schoolhouse Branch Moonshine Still
Grundy Forest State Natural Area.
Pure water + corn + remote location = a valuable commodity.
The production of bootleg liquor, or "moonshine," was both illegal, and a source of income for impoverished individuals in the remote canyons of the Cumberland Plateau. There are numerous sites within this park where the remains of moonshine stills can be seen. You can examine the remains of another, larger moonshine operation on the Fiery Gizzard Trail near mile marker 6.0.
Moonshine, by definition, is any kind of distilled spirit that is made in secret to avoid liquor taxes or bans on alcoholic drinks. Distillers wanting to make liquor for personal consumption or profit would produce alcohol in the woods at night to avoid being caught by law enforcement. The term "Moonshiner was given to distillers who illegally made such liquor under the "shine" of the moon.
"Bootleggers", on the other hand, were the smugglers who transported and sold such products. In colonial times, these distributors would conceal the product inside their tall riding boots, which is how they got their name.
The process of making moonshine includes fermentation, distillation, and condensation. The basic ingredients are sugar, water, yeast, cornmeal, and malt. First, the mash of fermented grain is carefully heated. At the conclusion of the process, the alcohol is condensed, using a coil of copper pipe in a barrel of cool water, known as "the worm".
This site utilized the waters of Schoolhouse Branch as a prime ingredient. Water had to be completely free of iron or other deposits in order to produce good moonshine.
South Cumberland State Park
ABOVE: This is the view of Schoolhouse Branch, just below the Grundy Forest Day Loop trail, on which you're traveling. Moonshine stills had to be located close to a source of pure, clear water. Can
vou find the remains of the small moonshine still in this photo?
LEFT: "Moonshiners" traditionally used a pot still in the photo, the large vessel on the left to boil the grain, sugar and water until the resulting heated
"mash" produces alcohol, in the form of a vapor, which is then drawn from the top of the still pot and cooled back into a liquid by running it through a coiled condensing tube, sometimes called "the worm", which was immersed in cold water.
RIGHT: Some moonshiners inserted an extra container, commonly known as a "thump keg" in the middle of this process. Often this was a simple wooden keg, through which they would pass the alcohol vapor on its way to the condenser. The latent heat in the vapor from the still pot was sufficient to enable the re-vaporization of the alcohol, allowing it to be distilled, purified, a second time, thus increasing its potency.
The production of moonshine, or any unlicensed alcohol, is illegal in Tennessee. This information is presented for historical purposes only.
Dedicated to the memory of Woody McLaught
Environmental Champion and FSC Founder
This interpretive project has been
Pro Sun one reon
FRIENDS
Or SOUTH
CUMBERLAND www. FriendsOfSouthCumberland.org
Special thanks
to these and many other individuals and organizations for invaluable research assistance, historical and scientific review, and access to historical images and information:
Cody Copkston
Albert Hugh "Hooty" Knight
Jackie Layne Partin
Dr. Bran Potter
Mack Prichard
Richard Savage
Travis Turner
William Ray Tumer
Dr. Camille Westmont
Grundy County Historical Society
Franklin County Historical Society
National Park Service
Tennessee State Archives
United States Archives
Interpretation Project Team
South Cumberland State Park George Shinn, SCSP Manager
Bill Knapp, SCSP Assistant Mgr.
Aaron Reid, SCSP Assistant Mgr.
Friends of South Cumberland State Park, Inc.
John Hille. President
Susan Campbell, Communications Cite. Chi Bruce Blohm, Trails Committe Rick Dreves, Interpretive Write
March, 2021

Bob_Luken

There's been so very little rain that the creeks were almost dry, but the scenery was still worthy of a few pictures.