During Prohibition, Hell Hole Swamp was one of the biggest suppliers of illegal booze to Chicago.
Wikimedia CommonsThe abandoned barrel likely belonged to one of Al Capone ’s criminal associates .
late in “ Bloody ” Berkeley County , South Carolina , in a section of the Francis Marion National Forest call “ Hell Hole Swamp , ” archaeologist have unearthed a corn liquor still linked to Al Capone .
researcher from the University of Tennessee made the find , which included artifacts like a metal cask , cinder block , a unripened garden hosiery , and some pieces of old metal . To a layperson , it might seem like nothing but a pile of chalk . But graduate student Katherine Parker knew she ’d hit gold .
Wikimedia CommonsThe abandoned barrel likely belonged to one of Al Capone’s criminal associates.
“ Defunct or wear liquor stills are often mistaken for mod scrap dumps,”Parker wroteon her website . But these find can tell a compelling story — especially when an notorious gangster like Al Capone is involved .
Katherine ParkerThe recently come upon moonshine barrel could ’ve well been dismissed as trash .
The clinker blocks plant by Parker and her teamdate back to the twenties . The closure probably abide a “ submarine - style ” liquor still — a metal container lift over a fire that moonshiners would ’ve used to churn rye , barley , lucre , and water . Next , the bootlegger would ’ve used the hosiery to pull in out the alcohol vapors , which they would later condense into a liquid .
Katherine ParkerThe recently discovered moonshine barrel could’ve easily been dismissed as trash.
Most stills are locate near creek — which Parker and her team did not find . However , they did light upon a 12 - animal foot well . Parker postulated that the bootleggers could ’ve pumped the well for the urine they need .
“ Most of the information that we can bump out about the still themselves and the people that were there has to come from archaeology because there ’s just not a real proficient newspaper publisher trail,”said Jason Moser , a district archaeologist with the Francis Marion National Forest .
After all , illegal moonshiner did n’t result many notes or track record . They worked under the mesa . Thus , researchers have to study the objects they go forth behind to understand them . Other token often found at abandon stills let in thing like nail , pail , clothing , and spent ammunition .
Wikimedia CommonsAuthorities show off the illegal liquor they confiscated during Prohibition in North Carolina.
Notably , the grounds of an old still in Hell Hole Swamp was found near the property of Benjamin Villeponteaux — an familiar of Al Capone . Villeponteaux is believed to have worked with Public Enemy No . 1 to produce moonshine during Prohibition .
Villeponteaux was uniquely well - position to produce Moon . He belong to an old Berkeley County family — which have in mind he could ante up off authorities to ignore his operation . And during Prohibition , Hell Hole Swampwas a Francis Scott Key locationfor some of the top producer of illegal liquor .
Bootleggers like Villeponteaux would pour moonshine into mason jars . Then , associates would distribute it far and wide by boxcar . Their whiskey was exhaust by the great unwashed in Chicago — as well as other major city around the country . Some locals indulged in the hard liquor as well .
“ Of of course we continued to drink during ban , ” remembered one local in nearby Charleston . “ I do n’t know where dad bought the liquor . It was just hand over to the back porch every morning with the Milk River . ”
Reportedly , Capone was n’t quenched with merely receiving shipments of bootlegged intoxicant . accord to local lore , he made several head trip to Hell Hole Swamp to check in on the production himself . The gangster had a report for swooping into town in a fancy limo with “ slew of money ” to “ take care of business . ”
But all the rich people aside , bootlegging was a unsafe byplay . Berkeley County became know as “ blooming ” Berkeley County for the frequent , violent clashes between rival bootlegger . The governor — who was in favor of prohibition era — denouncedBerkeley County as “ a festering raw . ”
One of “ Bloody ” Berkeley County ’s victims was Villeponteaux . He die in a gunfight with a rival gang call the McKnight home in 1926 .
However , it ’s likely that Villeponteaux ’s still outlived him . The McKnight gang — and others — may have continued to operate them after his death .
Plus , onetime habit die hard in Hell Hole Swamp . Even after Prohibition ended in 1933 , many moonshiner still produced illegal moonshine . South Carolina had one of America ’s highest state taxes on effectual liquor — $ 4 a gallon — and people knew how to farm and buy illegal intoxicant more cheaply .
Parker and her team are optimistic that further examination of the Hell Hole Swamp internet site can avail paint a serious picture of moonshiner like Villeponteaux .
“ We ’re bright that if this is peradventure like a pack sphere where the great unwashed who are running that still would be hanging out while it works , then mayhap we might find some more personal item like push button or coxcomb pieces and things like that , ” Parker say . Such detail could probably shed more lighting on the business that once took blank space in the area .
After all , Parker observe , people in the area roll in the hay local lore — and the “ dismal glory ” of moonshiner in the South absolutely fit out that verbal description .
After reading about the abandoned moonshine linked to Al Capone , jibe out these25 astounding Al Capone facts . Then , teach all about thedeath of Al Capone .
