"All the people who settled this region came with a distilling history, if you will," said Vaughan Webb, assistant director of the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum College near Rocky Mount. The institute has become known as the "moonshine museum" because a current exhibit, "White Liquor, Blue Ridge Style," is its most popular ever.
"People try to portray us as country bumpkins, but we're proud of being rednecks, and we're proud of the craft of making liquor," said Linda Stanley, the fast-talking special projects coordinator for the Franklin County Historical Society. "Around here, people still talk about the War Between the States, they still talk about making apple butter and they still talk about moonshine."
The society sponsors an annual Moonshine Express tour.
By the 1990s, authorities were seizing 10 to 15 large liquor stills a year in Franklin and neighboring counties. Although the crackdown has reduced that number to a few each year, ABC agents and some locals said the industry is coming back. "Moonshine is all over. They make it up in the mountains, in trailers, everywhere," said John Wilson, a lifelong Franklin County resident.
Like other residents, Wilson said he loves moonshine because with no federal or state taxes, it's cheaper than some store-bought liquor, and the raw, firelike taste is distinctive. He also had kind words for Smith, saying that the government should leave him alone. "What's the big deal? It's just some people getting drunk," Wilson said.
And here we find the key - Wilson said he loves moonshine because with no federal or state taxes, it's cheaper. Like the wiskey rebels of Western Pennsylvania over 200 years ago - many people have never grown friendly with regards to the TAXES our government levies on everything.
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