Fire Up the Stills: A Brief History of Moonshining in Appalachia with Dr. Bruce Stewart

Fire Up the Stills: A Brief History of Moonshining in Appalachia with Dr. Bruce Stewart

On Friday, Sept. 12th at 6 p.m., the Museum of Ashe County History will host a special lecture with Dr. Bruce Stewart titled Fire Up the Stills: A Brief History of Moonshining in Appalachia.

This lecture is a historical overview of alcohol manufacturing in Appalachia from the eighteenth century to the late twentieth century. It will highlight the reasons for distilling alcohol during the antebellum period and the rise of moonshining in the region after the passage of the Federal Liquor Tax in 1862. Dr. Stewart will give a detailed overview about the history of moonshining in our region, followed by a Q&A session.

Dr. Stewart is the Director of the Graduate Program in History at Appalachian State University. His areas of study are United States History and Appalachian History.

Some of Dr. Stewart’s works include Modern Moonshine: The Revival of White Whiskey in the Twenty-First Century, Southern Communities: Identity, Conflict, and Memory in the American South, Blood in the Hills: A History of Violence in Appalachia, Moonshiners and Prohibitionists: The Battle over Alcohol in Southern Appalachia, and King of the Moonshiners: Lewis R. Redmond in Fact and Fiction.

This event will take place in the 1904 courtroom at the Museum of Ashe County History, located at 301 E. Main Street in Jefferson, and is FREE and open to all to attend.

This event is part of Ashe County's 250th lecture series and is sponsored by America 250 NC. For more information, call (336) 846-1904.