Hills & Stills

Photo Provided by Tennessee State Library & Archives

A Brief History of Moonshine in Tennessee

Long before moonshine became a symbol of Appalachian rebellion and ingenuity, it appeared quietly in print:

“Illicit distilling in East Tennessee is called ‘moonshine business.’ The whiskey is also called ‘moonshine.’” -September 4, 1871, Memphis’s Public Ledger

These two, succinct sentences stand among the earliest printed mentions of moonshine in Tennessee. To modern readers, the words feel almost quaint, carrying only a whisper of the wild ride to come—a legendary car wreck in Knoxville, deadly raids on Chattanooga’s Sand Mountain and cold-blooded murder in Williamson County. 

The origins of moonshine, however, tell a much more practical story. Alcohol distillation in Tennessee began with European settlers, particularly Scots-Irish immigrants. In their homeland, whiskey was made from malted barley, but in the Tennessee hills, corn was easy to grow and cheap. Recipes were adapted accordingly, and it became quite common for small-scale farmers to produce high-proof whiskey for a range of uses beyond drinking, such as medicine, trade and sanitation. 

As the government began to tax and regulate alcohol, rural Tennesseans who relied on liquor for income were faced with a stark choice: starve or make their whiskey illegally. Many moved their stills into remote hollers that were difficult for law enforcement to reach. Often produced under the cover of night, this illicit whiskey earned a new name: moonshine.

During Prohibition, illegal alcohol production soared across the state, earning  Tennessee the title of “moonshine country,” a dubious distinction it shared with Kentucky and West Virginia. Moonshining was especially prevalent in East Tennessee, where geographic isolation and rough terrain provided ample hiding places. One magazine article from that era described the Appalachian Mountains as being “literally honeycombed with home-made stills.” In 1920, a Knoxville newspaper quipped, “Plenty of moonshine may contribute much to the popularity of mountain resorts next summer.” 

If the mountains were a moonshiner’s playground, the foothills belonged to bootleggers, the drivers who transported the illegal whiskey. Thunder Road, a well-traveled moonshine route, ran from Harlan, Kentucky, to Knoxville, Tennessee. It was later made famous by actor Robert Mitchum’s 1958 film Thunder Road and his song “The Ballad of Thunder Road,” both of which recount a bootlegger’s deadly car crash in Knoxville. 

Though no contemporary newspaper articles have been found to corroborate the accident, several locals went to their graves swearing they had witnessed the fiery wreck

 Another notorious moonshining hotspot in Tennessee was Chattanooga’s Sand Mountain, once known as “the Cradle of Moonshine.” One of the many raids in the area involved escaped murder convict George Kirk. While on the run in 1887, he joined forces with his two brothers to lead a moonshiners’ gang on the mountain. When law enforcement closed in, the Kirk brothers engaged in a Wild West-style shootout that ended with George’s death. Revenue officers buried him on the mountain where he fell.

Middle Tennessee also saw its share of moonshining and violence. In fact, one of Williamson County’s most notorious murders was rooted in the illegal whiskey trade. On the night of March 7, 1925, Federal Revenue Officer Samuel Locke was gunned down in his driveway off Hillsboro Pike. Many believed his murder was retaliation for his aggressive campaign against local moonshiners; in only three months, he had destroyed seventy-three stills and uncovered evidence of an illegal liquor ring in the county.

The investigation led to the arrest of Jim Kelton, who confessed to shooting Locke under pressure from notorious moonshiners John Truett and his son, Neely. A jury convicted Kelton but acquitted the Truetts. However, the state later indicted the father and son for liquor trafficking. The murder case exposed deep criminal networks in Williamson County that reached into law enforcement itself. These revelations sparked a reckoning: Corrupt constables were arrested, the sheriff resigned and public protests erupted against lawlessness.

Today, Tennessee moonshine has emerged from the shadows and into the marketplace. In 2009, the state passed legislation that allowed distilleries to legally operate in forty-four counties. Many entrepreneurs have jumped at the opportunity to capitalize on Tennessee’s moonshining legacy, opening small distilleries that cater to tourists. 

But legal or not, moonshine is more than a drink. It’s a story, each bottle telling the complicated past of our people—farmers, laborers, lawmen and outlaws, shaped by both resilience and rebellion. And that legacy still runs strong in Tennessee today.