Rock City's Moonshining Gnomes

This display has been seen along the Enchanted Trail virtually unchanged for several decades. On ebay, you can find postcards of a similar scene which dates back to the fifties, or earlier.

If you like photos from Rock City, I invite you to see my "Tour of Rock City" gallery.

Hillbilly Village - Pigeon Forge, TN

It's not a wacky tourist stop in Pigeon Forge unless it has a shotgun wielding moonshiner!

Hillbilly Village is one of the oldest tourist traps in Pigeon Forge. When it opened up in the 60's, there was vacant land on either side of the place. Now, there's no vacant space to be found anywhere along the main strip in Pigeon Forge. For years, their advertising material has pointed out that they have a real Moonshine Still out back, which really isn't that hard to find in the south. The day I was there, it was closed.

The Lost Sea - Vintage Moonshine Still

Craighead Caverns is an extensive cave system located in Sweetwater, Tennessee. It is best known for containing the United States' largest and the world's second largest non-subglacial underground lake, The Lost Sea. In addition to the lake, the caverns contain an abundance of crystal clusters called anthodites, stalactites, stalagmites and a waterfall.

Decades ago, before the sea at the bottom of the cave was found, there was a bar inside the cave (or Cavern Tavern), with multiple moonshine stills. One of the problems with this is the atmospheric conditions inside a cave counteract the effects of drunkedness and bar patrons would drink more than their usual limit. The lack of sobriety wouldn't be noticed until attempting to climb all of the stairs out of the cave. As our tour guide put it: The higher you get - The higher you get.

Alvin York's Moonshine Still?

Located at the Alvin York State Historic Park in Pall Mall, TN near the large red mill, however it is missing some important parts. I guess the feds (or the "Revenooers") decided to leave this for it's historical significance.