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More than a decade ago, Jerry Brown found himself in the musty basement of the Ashe County Memorial Hospital, which had been abandoned since the 1990s. There on the floor,
More than a decade ago, Jerry Brown found himself in the musty basement of the Ashe County Memorial Hospital, which had been abandoned since the 1990s. There on the floor,
4 Destinations Where Moonshine and Nature Converge
North Carolina’s landscapes serve as backdrops for the past. Whether you paddle out in the Coastal Plain or hike up a mountain, here’s where everyday activities mingle with pieces of moonshining history.
SPONSORED BY NC DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
More than a decade ago, Jerry Brown found himself in the musty basement of the Ashe County Memorial Hospital, which had been abandoned since the 1990s. There on the floor, caked with dust, Brown found what he was looking for: an authentic, copper pot-style moonshine still.
The county sheriff confiscated it in the 1970s, and the still sat in storage for years before Brown, a board member of The Museum of Ashe County History, and other volunteers retrieved it for a life-size exhibit illustrating moonshine’s importance in Ashe County’s cultural and economic life. “You won’t find another one that’s that complete and that accurate,” he says, noting details like antique lanterns, a mash stick, and mash barrels.
This exhibit is one of many on North Carolina’s Moonshine and Motorsports Trail, created by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. At the following four locations, you can learn more about moonshine’s regional history — and explore the natural resources that are part of the backstory.
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Discover the Moonshine and Motorsports Trail
Highlighting North Carolina’s unique, intertwined history of bootleg whisky and stock car racing, the Moonshine and Motorsports Trail celebrates both the history and bright future of NC’s distilling and racing industries. Follow along as we share stories, itineraries and more!
No paddle? No problem. You can still check out the interactive exhibits at the Dismal Swamp State Park Visitor Center and bring a picnic to enjoy on the deck. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Paddle the Dismal Swamp State Park
While gliding along the Dismal Canal’s glassy water, past cypress, maple, and gum trees, consider the history that surrounds you. In addition to providing refuge for people fleeing enslavement, the swamp’s blackwater and overgrowth also proved an ideal place to distill hooch.
Difficult for “city folk” like the federal revenuers to navigate, the challenge of finding a moonshiner’s hideaway was often matched by the challenge of getting out of the swamp with confiscated stills or wily lawbreakers in tow.
In addition to the replica copper still, keep an eye out for wildlife around the Dismal Swamp, like snowy egrets and pileated woodpeckers. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
One such local legend, Alvin Sawyer, took glee in bamboozling law enforcement officers. Once, after he was caught deep in the swamp tending his still, Sawyer sweet-talked lost ABC agents into allowing him to take the boat’s wheel to steer them out. Once given control of the boat, he promptly rammed it into the canal bank, leapt onto land, and fled, giggling all the while.
Today, nearly 22 miles of trails lead from the park’s visitors center in South Mills. Hike along the .5-mile Supple-Jack Trail and you’ll spot remnants of old, abandoned stills scattered among the trees. A replica still sits along Canal Road Trail — a row of large metal barrels moonshiners would have used in the cover of darkness. If you would prefer to see by way of water, put in your kayak from the boat launch behind the visitors center and paddle along the canal — just don’t pull an Alvin Sawyer!
Moonshiners weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the dense woodland of Purgatory Mountain. Today, you can spot plenty of animal residents. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Explore Purgatory Mountain
A walk up Purgatory Mountain leads hikers through woodland scattered with various fungi and a diverse selection of plants and animals. Conservation initiatives at the NC Zoo’s Purgatory Mountain Trails have preserved two types of rare wetlands, and their seasonal dry nature cycle gives rise to gray tree frogs, spotted salamanders, cricket frogs, and other distinct amphibians and flora.
While you don’t need admission to the NC Zoo to hike the trails around Purgatory Mountain, visiting the animals and their habitats is a wonderful way to round out the day. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Predictably, this forested haven has a less-than-savory past. It once served as a hiding spot for moonshine stills. It is said that fires used to heat the stills resulted in a foreboding smoky glow on the mountain that townsfolk in Asheboro could see from miles away. This area — distant enough from town, frequently cloaked in fog, and complete with a creek that provided ample water for liquor production — appealed to moonshiners, as became evident in the 1970s when surveyors found the remains of a dozen or so stills.
Today, more than four miles of trails cover the low, ancient mountain. Although they’re located on zoo property, the trails are open to the public free of admission. Visitors can access the trailhead from the parking lot at the zoo’s North America entrance.
After your hike, spend time at the world’s largest natural habitat zoo, traveling from where alligators lurk in the shallow pools of the Cypress Swamp Habitat in the North America section to the Africa section, where elephants roam the Watani Grasslands Habitat.
Transformed from a past life as a Roses Discount Store, the Johnston County Museum now invites visitors to come check out artifacts from the past. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Learn About Robert and Percy Flowers at the Johnston County Museum
Two prominent players in Johnston County’s moonshine history share the same last name but don’t appear to have been related. “They were both named Flowers and on opposite sides of the law,” K. Todd Johnson says, who works as the director of the Johnston County Museum. The museum holds interpretive exhibits and artifacts that provide insight into Johnston County’s illustrious (and notorious) figures.
Robert Flowers, a federal Marshall at the beginning of Prohibition, was from the Benson area. “He was legendary in the 1920s for busting up stills and sniffing out farmers’ personal stashes,” Johnson says. “He would sometimes parade down Main Street in Benson with part of a still on one shoulder and a rifle on the other.” Flowers was wounded in the line of duty and died relatively young.
Exhibits share stories about Percy Flowers and moonshine’s influence on local history. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Percy Flowers, on the other hand, lived to age 79 and gained wide influence among people in high and low places. “He was big time,” Johnson explains. “He was both revered and feared. He confounded federal authorities and ended up being dubbed ‘King of the Moonshiners’ in a Saturday Evening Post article in 1958.”
Purchase a copy of the article at the Johnston County Heritage Center, a short walk down the street from the museum. This genealogy research facility attracts visitors from across the country, and it offers brochures for a self-guided walking tour of Smithfield’s downtown. Follow the route to get a glimpse of the town’s past, from the antebellum medical office on tree-lined Bridge Street to the two-room Freedman’s Schoolhouse on Fourth Street.
The Museum of Ashe County History — inside a restored 1904 courthouse — reflects the area’s past before you even step inside. Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Visit The Museum of Ashe County History in Jefferson
Today, the moonshine display at The Museum of Ashe County History feels almost as realistic as the mid-century image it evokes. Artifacts like a rabbit gum trap, corn bags, a Prince Albert tobacco can surround an old moonshiner who has nodded off — shotgun in hand — as the still works its magic. Nearby, his conspirator tinkers under the hood of 1939 Chevrolet Coupe culled from a local junkyard, a nod to moonshine’s connection to modified vehicles to better outrun the feds.
Brown notes the recent romanticization of moonshine but explains that, at its height, distilling untaxed liquor didn’t feel like a choice in the mountains: It was a widespread means for survival, especially during the Depression. Often, those who made white lightning never tasted it. “In this area, moonshine production is not what people think it was,” Brown says. “It was just a way of feeding the children.”
Exhibits within the museum range from a life-size Moonshine & Music display …<br><span class="photographer">Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources</span>
… to the 30-foot diorama of the Virginia Carolina Branch of the Norfolk and Western Railway …<br><span class="photographer">Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources</span>
… and the Veterans Hall of Honor, paying tribute to Ashe County veterans and their families. <br><span class="photographer">Photography courtesy of NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources</span>
After departing the museum, swing by the Old Barn Winery in West Jefferson for live music and a glass of wine with a beautiful view. Or better yet, catch the winery’s trolley at Ashe County Cheese downtown and cruise to the site. As live musicians perform on the outdoor stage, raise a glass of Bootlegger red and toast to your travels through the Old Moonshine State.
Where will you begin your adventure along our state’s Moonshine and Motorsports Trail? Click here to read more about where to stop and savor this side of North Carolina’s history.
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