About 45 minutes north of Athens, the 1.3 square-mile town with a population of less than 800 celebrates its title as “moonshine capital of the world” every Memorial Day weekend.
New Straitsville residents were inspired to celebrate this part of their heritage after their centennial in 1970 by hosting a Moonshine Festival the following year, with working still displays, moonshine burgers, pies and even a Moonshine Queen. Now 42 years old, the annual event attracts a 5,000-person crowd, more than six times the entire population of the town.
Though moonshine is classified by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau as “illicit distilled spirits,” the festival has one of the only permits in Ohio to brew the high-proof whiskey — as long as every ounce of it is destroyed.
The festival must report to the Tax and Trade Bureau each year to confirm the amount of moonshine produced and the amount thrown out after the three-day fest.
“Sometimes, we just put bleach in the bottom of the bucket so no one can drink it,” general chairman Ken Burgess said.
But the illegal production of white lightning, as it’s often called, dates back to English settlement in Appalachia. The tradition became a major moneymaker, albeit a secret one, for New Straitsvillers after the 1884 mine fire.
In 1884, area miners went on strike and pushed burning carts into one of the town’s mines, igniting the entire underground coal seam. Consequently unemployed, Appalachian miners turned to their home stills for income.
“It isn’t just about an illegal activity; it’s about men who were trying desperately to feed their families,” said Cheryl Blosser, president of the New Straitsville History Group. “They were only doing something that had already been done in this country for hundreds of years. Everybody made whiskey because it was the surest way to make money from your crops.”
When Prohibition hit, their special sauce became even more valuable. Blosser’s history group has confirmed through interviews that people from Chicago would travel to the small town regularly for quality ’shine.
Between 1929 and 1931, there were reportedly 175 stills operating in New Straitsville. Jars of it were shipped by train in boxes labeled as potatoes or books.
Regular stills produced about 50 gallons at a time, while larger producers made up to 300 gallons. An average batch cost $20.91 to produce, according to Wilson Brothers Grocery of New Straitsville, yet sold for up to $40 per gallon.
As the Depression worsened, the price was cut in half and later dropped to $4.
Today, a quart of moonshine is worth $20 or more, Blosser said.
Caves and abandoned mines were popular still sites because they masked the smell. Still, many people in New Straitsville are preserving family stills in their own homes.
“Just about everyone around here has some connection to it,” Blosser said.
Today, remnants of those stills are on display at the New Straitsville History Center along with a replica of the coal mine that started it all.
oy311909@ohiou.edu
