Moonshine Stills on Bays Mountain
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that even our beloved Bays Mountain has been the site of numerous moonshine stills over the years.
Dense forest cover, ample firewood, running streams… all spark the temptation to create a little white lightning. Or maybe a lot.
While the stills are long gone (we think), several accounts and newspaper articles still survive to tell these tales. Here are just a few:
June 24, 1963 – Kingsport Times-News: “Moonshine Still”
County officers raided a 65-gallon copper still Saturday on High Point Ridge on Bays Mountain.
Constable J.F. (Jap) Crawford and Sullivan County Sheriff’s Deputy John Bishop said they confiscated five half-gallon jars of moonshine whiskey and five barrels of mash.
October 1966 – Kingsport Times-News: Invisible Industry – an 11-part series on local moonshine activity