Shining in the Tar Woods: An Examination of Illicit Liquor Distillation Sites in the Francis Marion National Forest

Katherine G Parker

Shining in the Tar Woods: An Examination of Illicit Liquor Distillation Sites in the Francis Marion National Forest

Year: 2018

Summary

Hell Hole Swamp, located in Berkeley County, South Carolina, was home to some of the largest moonshine distillation operations in the nation during the Prohibition Era. Although liquor distillation sites in the state date as early as the 1750s, few of these sites have been formally documented. These sites may have only ephemeral remains due to short and clandestine periods of use, and can be frequently overlooked as modern debris or refuse scatters. Utilizing archaeological models established for these sites in different parts of Appalachia, as well as available ethnographic data, it may be possible to refine the diagnostic characteristics for still sites in order to better understand this facet of nineteenth and twentieth century life in the Francis Marion National Forest.

Cite this Record

Shining in the Tar Woods: An Examination of Illicit Liquor Distillation Sites in the Francis Marion National Forest. Katherine G Parker. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441945) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8441945