I live about 15 minutes drive from this site. During my childhood my best friends ( Larry) grandfather lived in an old 2 story house that did not have any insulation in it. You could go into the house and find an old woodstove with a water reservoir with a fire in the kitchen on the hottest day of the year. I asked my friend Larry why his grandpa used a wood stove when it made the house so hot. He said “That is just how grandpa is”. My grandpa and Larrys grandpa were best friends. I found out years later that the two grandpas had a moonshine still under the house with the chimney ducted into the fireplace. You accessed the still by going into the separate garage through the grease pit that was linked by a tunnel. There was a row of bee hives in front of the garage. If you were “in the know” you could pop the top of one of the hives to get a quart jar of “product” and leave your money in the hive.There was only one work place accident I know of where a mildly lubricated customer pulled the top off the wrong hive and paid the consequences.. Many of the bees died after stinging that guy !!
Good to pass on.
Popcorn sold his shine in Asheville and Newport.
He made it in a remote area called “Snowbird”. It is deeper south along the crest.
According to his legacy there in Maggie Valley, he kept many jars on a front porch fridge. Nobody dared steal it.
The Karens took him down.
Awesome story!