Moonshine Still Sites Investigated in South Carolina’s Lowcountry
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA According to a report in
The Post and Courier, a team led by archaeologist Katherine Parker of the University of Tennessee has found evidence of Prohibition-era moonshining in South Carolina’s Francis Marion National Forest. Even though the activity occurred within the last 100 years, few records of illegal activity would have been kept, Parker said. Five still sites had already been identified in the forest, and Parker and her team members identified seven more. One of the well-known still sites belonged to the Villeponteaux family, who is thought to have produced liquor for distribution by gangster Al Capone. The researchers uncovered cinderblocks dating to the 1920s, a metal barrel, a green garden hose, and bits of metal trash at the site. The presence of sheet metal and charcoal could reflect the heating of mash in a still container, explained volunteer team member Jacob Bro