Moonshine Stills

1 - Late January 2026: Several years ago I had photographed the remains of an old homesite near Hunter Knob, off Bluebird Lane. I had explored a bit around the vicinity, but wanted to go back and expand my search area to see what else I might find.

I came across a couple of half-gallon fruit / canning jars alongside the main creek that runs through the area.

Nearby was the remains of a small barrel / cannister. I knew this had been a popular area for bootleggers, and had been told that there were remains of some old stills in the area, but I hadn't seen any when I explored the area previously.

Heading up a tributary, I saw another jar in the water, held in place by a root.

Pulling it out, it was another intact 1/2 gallon jar. It had no embossing, just debossed ribs on the shoulder and heel, but did have the Ball logo on the bottom.

Continuing up the branch, I noticed a channel / ditch running parallel to the stream on the adjacent slope. It is approx. 2-3 feet wide by 2-3 feet deep.

This "ditch" appeared to be an old flume for carrying water, typically having been used in this area for hydraulic mining, or to power a millwheel. These ditch/flumes follow along the contour of the land, losing just enough elevation to keep the water it carries flowing. Although there was nearby mining in the 1800s, I don't know of any at this spot, nor was there any indication of an old mill in the area.

Continuing upstream, another jar, held in place by a root in the creek.

It was another Atlas HA Mason 1/2 gallon, with a broken mouth. Finding all these large canning jars in the tributary, I was convinced that I must be approaching an old still location. At every still I've ever found, there was always some form of a U-shaped rock formation that was used as the fireplace-cooker, alongside a creek, so I had my eyes peeled.

About 20 feet off the creek, I found this pit: 6-7 feet diameter and 5 feet deep, with a small barrel in it.

Old barrel in the bottom of the pit. But still no rocks for a fireplace-cooker...

Another (broken) canning jar...

I was convinced that this spot was the site of the old still. Digging around in the duff, I started to find barrel bands.

Another barrel band in the creek bank.

I found this small formation of rocks on the bank, but it didn't have the form of a still. But being the only group of rocks I found anywhere along this branch, perhaps it was something...

Zinc Ball jar lid

Another jar in the creek.

Another pristine half-gallon Atlas HA Mason jar, filled with mud. I was somewhat surprised at how many intact jars I found in this branch, despite them being tumbled over rocks, and enduring freezing temperatures every winter. There was ice in much of the branch when I was there. Although I never found remains of a definite fireplace site, I'm convinced that this was the site of an old moonshine still. I did some further exploring, hoping to come across an old homesite; I saw some promising areas but no signs of any old homesteads.
2 - Early February 2026: Just over a week later (with a 6 1/2 inch snowstorm in between), I returned to the area. I had looked at LIDAR imagery, and seen some indications that I wanted to check out. This exploration started with my finding a pit that appeared to be an old mine prospect, and ended with the discovery of a tunnel-adit at another prospect. I'll cover those in the next album, but between those finds, I searched for more stills and / or homesites.

Exploring the next watershed, I found a barrel band up in a tree along an old trail. Taking this as evidence of another still, I headed over to the adjacent creek.

First I saw these two sections of iron...

And looking across the creek, I saw what appeared to be the remains of a still: A (somewhat disturbed) rock base structure for a fire- place / cooker, and an assortment of iron implements.

A 3 foot section of railroad rail There had to have been some serious heat to bend this rail!

Probably from a narrow-gauge or logging RR.

Old auto driveshaft, axle, and another section of iron similar to the two on the opposite side of the creek.

Yoke-hub at one end of the drive-shaft. I have no idea what this would be used for at a still.

End of another drive-shaft

Another barrel band.

This small depression had been dug out about 20 feet upstream.

An old rusted bucket. The next album will document the mining discoveries made on this same exploration.

Hunter Knob Index	Hunter Knob Mining
N. Towns-Union Index	NE GA - NC Index