As the 1800’s drew to a close, the national stance against alcohol was gaining ground. Around the turn of the century, laws were passed making it illegal to run a distillery in a rural area, and through the early 1900’s, one by one, Virginia counties banned the sale of production of alcohol.

By 1909 most of Virginia and about half of the Blue Ridge was “dry. Licensed distilleries were forced to close. In 1914 the Commonwealth voted to ban alcohol statewide. (The Blue Ridge county of Franklin consistently voted against the ban.) Prohibition was enforced nationwide in 1920, and the moonshiner’s market, which had grown steadily over the years, exploded. The building of an illegal industry involved a hoist of players ~ farmers, sugar and grain suppliers, container suppliers, still hands, still owners, liquor haulers, financial partners, law enforcement agents and “retail” whiskey sellers. Their individual roles changed as moonshining itself changed.

From the late 1800’s to Prohibition (1920) moonshining centered around wood-fired turnip stills making apple brandy or corn whiskey. The bootleggers typically set up on a secluded wooden area besides a stream or spring.

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In the latter half of the nineteenth century, liquor was hauled by wagon to its market destination or a railroad stop. It is said that individuals made day trips by train to Roanoke with suitcases filled with jars of whiskey. By the time Virginia voted to become a “dry” state (1914), moonshiners were using cars and trucks to deliver their whiskey.