Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 1, 1994 TAG: 9401010003
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There are economic, cultural and geographic answers to that question.
Randy Shifflett, an Appalachian history professor at Virginia Tech, suggests "the mountain spirit of independence" as much as anything is behind Franklin County's continuing moonshine business.
That mountain spirit shows up most often in the western part of Franklin County, an area pioneered by Irish immigrants that's now known as the Blue Ridge voting district. In 1972, authorities raided there what was then the largest illegal liquor distillery ever found in Virginia - 24 800-gallon pots.
That longstanding distrust of government also shows up in politics. In December 1992, Blue Ridge district residents spearheaded a revolt against countywide land-use zoning. The attitude: My great-grandparents bought this land, and no government is going to tell me how to use it.
But without the right topography, says Alcoholic Beverage Control Agent R.C. Toney, Franklin County wouldn't be the "Moonshine Capital of the World." Toney offers one of the more scientific theories about the county's moonshining prominence.
"The water is good; it has a high lime content," Toney said. "An old bootlegger told me, he said, `You got to have lime in your water to get your mash right.' "
Then there's the terrain theory, which Toney also supports: the county's "hollers," woods and hundreds of miles of remote dirt roads make it easy for bootleggers to get their work done without being seen.
In the end, the reason for Franklin County's continuing moonshine trade may be as simple as it is general:
A handful of Franklin Countians know how to make liquor, they bring in a tidy sum selling it - and they won't stop as long as they can make a profit.
by CNB