Spirits of the High Alleghenies: An Exhaustive History of Whiskey in Pocahontas County, West Virginia
I. The Geopolitical and Topographical Imperative of Distillation
The history of whiskey in Pocahontas County is not merely a chronicle of fermentation and distillation; it is a profound sociological narrative dictated by the rugged geography of the High Alleghenies. To understand why this region became a nexus for both the production of spirits and the subsequent cultural mythology of "moonshining," one must first contend with the topography of the land itself. Pocahontas County, often lyricized as the "Birthplace of Rivers," sits at a high elevation, encompassing the headwaters of eight major river systems including the Greenbrier, Gauley, and Elk. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this geography acted as a formidable fortress of isolation.
For the early agrarian settlers, the mountains presented a distinct economic paradox. The fertile valleys of the Little Levels and the Greenbrier River bottoms were capable of producing significant agricultural surplus, particularly corn. However, the sheer verticality of the surrounding ridges made the transport of this bulk commodity to market centers in Richmond or Baltimore historically impossible. A pack horse or a mule-drawn wagon navigating the primitive traces of the Allegheny Front could carry only a limited bushelage of grain. The economic friction of transport—the cost of time, feed, and labor—often exceeded the value of the crop itself by the time it reached a point of sale.
Distillation was the mountaineer's solution to this logistical equation. By converting bulky, perishable corn into whiskey, the farmer achieved a miraculous economic alchemy: volume was reduced, value was increased, and shelf-life was rendered indefinite. One-and-a-half bushels of corn, heavy and prone to rot or rodent infestation, could be reduced to a single gallon of whiskey. This liquid commodity was easily portable in kegs strapped to a saddle, universally accepted as currency, and commanded a high price in the flatlands. Thus, whiskey in Pocahontas County was never just a beverage; it was the primary mechanism of capital accumulation and the most reliable currency in a cash-poor frontier economy.
1.1 The Scots-Irish Cultural Inheritance
The technological and cultural software for this industry arrived with the demographic wave of the late 18th century. The settlers who pushed into the valleys of Pocahontas County were predominantly of Scots-Irish descent, hailing from the borderlands of Britain and the northern counties of Ireland. They brought with them a fierce independence, a Presbyterian work ethic, and a highly developed tradition of pot-still distillation.
In the Old World, these immigrants had distilled barley into uisge beatha ("the water of life"). Upon arriving in the Appalachians, they adapted their techniques to the indigenous grain of the Americas: Zea mays, or field corn. This adaptation was swift and successful. The "Indian corn" grew vigorously in the steep, rocky plots of the hollows where European grains might fail. The resulting spirit—corn whiskey—became the defining artifact of the regional culture.
The cultural transmission of distilling knowledge was total. It was not a specialized trade restricted to a guild; it was a domestic skill possessed by nearly every substantial landholder. A good copper still and the "worm" (the condensing coil) were among the most valuable assets a family could possess, often listed in wills and estate inventories alongside land and livestock. This equipment was the engine of the farm's profitability.
1.2 The "Kitchen Still" Economy
Before the industrialization of the late 19th century, distilling in Pocahontas County operated on what historians term the "kitchen still" or "farm distiller" model. This was a lawful, regulated, and respectable economic activity. The production cycle was seasonal, integrated into the agricultural calendar. Corn was planted in the spring, harvested in the fall, and distilled in the winter months when the labor demands of the farm decreased and the cold mountain water—essential for cooling the condenser worm—was at its most effective.
The water of the Alleghenies was a critical, if passive, partner in this process. The county’s geology, rich in limestone, provided spring water that was iron-free and rich in calcium. Iron is chemically detrimental to whiskey, turning the spirit black and imparting a metallic taste. The abundance of pure limestone water in Pocahontas County allowed for the production of a superior spirit that gained a regional reputation long before the concept of "branding" existed.
The whiskey produced in these early stills was typically consumed unaged or "white." It was 100-proof (50% alcohol), clear, and potent. While some might be stored in charred oak barrels—a technique that would later define Bourbon whiskey—much of the Pocahontas spirit was consumed as "corn liquor" or "mountain dew". It functioned as a universal solvent for social interaction, a caloric supplement for laborers, and a critical medicine for the isolated populace.
II. The Civil War: Speculation and the Whiskey Economy (1861-1865)
The outbreak of the American Civil War fractured the social and economic fabric of Pocahontas County, a border region torn between conflicting loyalties. However, the conflict also highlighted the unique economic status of whiskey. As the formal banking systems of the South collapsed and Confederate currency succumbed to hyperinflation, whiskey emerged as a "hard" currency, retaining its value while paper money became worthless.
2.1 The Isaac McNeel Papers: A Case Study in Wartime Capitalism
The archives of Isaac McNeel (1830-1891), a prominent merchant, mill owner, and Sheriff of Pocahontas County, provide a granular view of this wartime whiskey economy. McNeel operated a store at Edray and later at Mill Point, a strategic location at the intersection of the county’s limited road network. His business records reveal that he was not merely a passive observer of the war but an active speculator in the commodities that defined the era: cattle, tobacco, and whiskey.
Table 1: The Commodities of War in Pocahontas County (c. 1861-1865)
Source: Analysis of Isaac McNeel Papers
The Union blockade of Southern ports created severe shortages of manufactured goods and luxuries in the Confederacy. As supplies dwindled, the price of whiskey skyrocketed. McNeel’s correspondence indicates a keen awareness of these market fluctuations in Richmond and Baltimore. For a merchant in the mountains, holding stock in whiskey was a hedge against the destruction of wealth. Unlike cattle, which could be requisitioned (stolen) by passing armies or killed by disease, whiskey could be hidden in cellars or caves and retrieved when prices peaked.
2.2 The Provost Marshal and the "War Spirit"
Isaac McNeel’s role was complicated by his appointment as the Confederate provost marshal of the county in 1862. In this capacity, he was responsible for maintaining order and enforcing martial law. This placed him at the intersection of the legal authority and the illicit economy. The presence of troops—both Confederate and Union—throughout the county, including at strategic points like Camp Barteau (Traveler's Repose), created a voracious market for spirits.
The "war spirit" was not just patriotic fervor but a literal consumption of alcohol. Soldiers stationed in the cold, wet camps of the Alleghenies demanded whiskey for warmth and relief from the monotony and terror of service. Local distillers, often operating clandestinely to avoid impressment of their goods, supplied this demand. The McNeel Mill at Mill Point, with its capacity to grind large quantities of grain, would have been a pivotal infrastructure node in this supply chain. The dual utilization of corn for bread (sustenance) and whiskey (profit/medicine) posed a constant tension during the lean years of the war.
2.3 The Post-War Economic Landscape
Following the cessation of hostilities in 1865, the whiskey economy did not disappear; it merely evolved. The federal government, burdened by war debt, aggressively reinstated and enforced the excise tax on distilled spirits. This tax, which had been the spark of the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion, once again criminalized the small-scale agrarian distiller.
For the farmers of Pocahontas County, this was a return to an adversarial relationship with the federal government. The "revenue agents" replaced the foraging armies as the primary threat to their economic livelihood. This period marked the transition from "farming distiller" to "moonshiner"—the shift from a legitimate agricultural practice to a subterranean criminal enterprise necessitated by tax policy.
III. The Industrial Transformation: Cass, Durbin, and the Empire of Wood
The turn of the 20th century brought the industrial revolution to the high mountains. The arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway and the Western Maryland Railway unlocked the vast spruce forests of the county, leading to the establishment of massive timber operations. This era fundamentally altered the demographics and the drinking culture of Pocahontas County.
3.1 Cass: The Company Town and the "Dry" Mandate
In 1901, the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company (WVP&P) established the town of Cass to support its massive lumber mill. Cass was a "company town" in the strictest sense. The company owned the land, the houses, the store, and the utilities. It also sought to own the morality of its workforce.
The company enforced a strict prohibition on the sale of alcohol within the town limits. The managers, who lived in the large, comfortable houses on "Big Bug Hill," viewed alcohol as a threat to productivity and safety in the dangerous work of logging and milling. However, the workforce—comprising local mountaineers, African Americans, and immigrants from Italy and Eastern Europe—had different ideas.
3.2 The Geography of Vice: "Brooklyn" and "Dirty Street"
The suppression of alcohol in Cass created a hydraulic pressure that burst forth just across the Greenbrier River. An unincorporated area, technically outside the company's jurisdiction, sprang up to service the vices of the workforce. This settlement was colloquially named "Brooklyn" or "East Cass".
Connected to the orderly, whitewashed town of Cass by a swinging suspension bridge (ironically dubbed the "Brooklyn Bridge"), this district was the "safety valve" for the town. The main thoroughfare was known as "Dirty Street". Here, independent entrepreneurs established saloons, gambling dens, and brothels.
Table 2: The Dual Cities of Cass (c. 1910-1920)
Source: MSRLHA Archives and Oral Histories
The Riverview Hotel in Brooklyn became the epicenter of this activity. It was described as "infamous," a place where "houses of entertainment" operated openly. The C&O Railway played a complicit role in this ecosystem. Freight records suggest that nearly every train arriving in Cass carried shipments of beer and whiskey destined for the "wet" side of the river.
3.3 The Ethnic Dimensions of the Saloon
The industrial boom brought a wave of Italian immigrants to Pocahontas County, primarily employed in railroad construction and maintenance. These workers brought their own drinking traditions, often preferring wine or specific spirits. The saloons of Brooklyn were rare spaces of integration where the segregated work crews—Italians, Blacks, and native-born whites—might mingle, though this often led to friction.
The term "Hell's Acre" was frequently applied to Brooklyn, reflecting the violence that accompanied the heavy drinking on paydays. The "wood hicks"—men who spent weeks in the remote logging camps of Cheat Mountain—would descend into town with a month’s wages and a thirst that the company store’s soda fountain could not quench. The transition from the isolation of the camps to the sensory overload of "Dirty Street" fueled a volatile drinking culture that kept the local constables and company police in a state of constant vigilance.
3.4 Durbin: The "Normal Vices"
While Cass pushed its vice across the river, the town of Durbin, a major rail junction north of Cass, integrated it into the municipal economy. Durbin was an incorporated town, not a company town, and thus had more autonomy—and more chaos.
Local historian Jason Bauserman has documented the drinking culture of Durbin through a detailed analysis of town records. The town jail was a central institution. Bauserman notes that the town sign today reads "All the Normal Vices," a nod to its reputation as a place where loggers and railroaders blew off steam.
In the pre-Prohibition era, the Durbin municipal government effectively taxed vice through fines. A drunk and disorderly charge might cost $1 to $5—a "user fee" for the weekend's entertainment. However, selling liquor without a license was a serious economic crime against the state, carrying fines of $25 to $50. This distinction highlights that the concern was often revenue, not morality.
IV. The Great Drought: Prohibition and the Rise of the Moonshiner (1914-1933)
West Virginia was a pioneer in the prohibition movement, enacting the Yost Law in 1914, six years before the federal Volstead Act. This legislation fundamentally transformed the whiskey landscape of Pocahontas County. Overnight, the saloons of Brooklyn and Durbin were outlawed. The "safety valve" was welded shut, forcing the alcohol economy underground and back into the hollows from which it had originated.
4.1 The Yost Law and the "Dry" State
The Yost Law was draconian. It prohibited the manufacture, sale, and storage of alcohol, with very few exceptions for medicinal or sacramental use. For the industrial workforce of Pocahontas County, this was a culture shock. The demand for spirits did not cease; it merely became more expensive and more dangerous to satisfy.
The enforcement of the Yost Law fell to the newly created Department of Prohibition. However, in the remote mountainous terrain of Pocahontas, state agents faced the same logistical hurdles as the tax collectors of the 1790s. The geography that had once made transport difficult now made concealment easy.
4.2 The "Extract" Loophole: A Durbin Case Study
The early years of Prohibition were characterized by a cat-and-mouse game of legal loopholes. One of the most fascinating episodes in Pocahontas history is the "Extract Trade."
In August 1921, a man named Brooks Bishop was arrested in Durbin. His crime was not selling whiskey, but selling "lemon and vanilla extract". Bishop had procured a suitcase full of these extracts, likely from a wholesale supplier, and was peddling them on the streets.
Table 3: The Chemistry of the Loophole (Durbin, 1921)
Source: Jason Bauserman, Allegheny Mountain Radio Interview
As the table illustrates, vanilla extract was significantly more potent than standard whiskey. The court in Durbin recognized that Bishop was not selling baking supplies to housewives but intoxicants to loggers. He was fined $100 and sentenced to 60 days in jail. This case underscores the desperation of the "dry" era, where consumers would drink anything—hair tonic, sterno, or flavoring extracts—to achieve intoxication, often at great risk to their health.
4.3 The Jones Sisters and Female Moonshiners
The popular narrative of moonshining is dominated by male figures, but Pocahontas County records reveal the active participation of women. The economic hardship of the region, exacerbated by the criminalization of the primary cash crop, meant that entire families participated in the illicit trade.
In July 1925, the "Jones Sisters"—Susan and Virgie Jones—of Deer Creek Village were arrested. They were well-known to local authorities, having been caught "quite a few times before." On this occasion, they were convicted of possessing a single bottle of liquor. The court, citing their "dubious character," sentenced them to a $100 fine and 60 days in jail.
The aftermath of the sentencing is revealing. The sisters were released on their own recognizance for 48 hours to "prepare for jail." Instead, they fled the state. The Justice of the Peace, J.B. Sutton, recorded in the docket: "They are wished a happy and prosperous sojourn wherever they are, so long as it is outside the boundary lines of the state of West Virginia". This entry reflects a pragmatic form of law enforcement common in the county: exile was often a cheaper and more effective solution than incarceration.
4.4 Lincoln Cochran: The Iconography of Enforcement
If the moonshiner is the shadow in this history, the lawman is the spotlight. No figure looms larger in the prohibition lore of Pocahontas County than Lincoln S. Cochran (sometimes referred to as Link Cochran). Serving variously as Constable, U.S. Marshall, and Sheriff, Cochran became the personification of federal and state authority.
Photographic archives from the Pocahontas County Historical Society depict Cochran in a recurring tableau: standing on the platform of the Marlinton Train Station, flanked by his deputy Ross O. Hamrick and his bloodhound "Jim Dallas," posing with a captured moonshine still.
These images were powerful propaganda. By displaying the captured technology—the copper pots, the condensing worms, the "thump kegs"—in the public space of the depot, Cochran was sending a visual message about the reach of the law. The stills themselves offer a forensic insight into the technology of the era. They were often "submarine" stills: low-profile, wood-fired units designed to be easily concealed in the rhododendron thickets ("laurel hells") and rapidly moved.
Cochran’s family history, deeply rooted in the county (living on Droop Mountain), added a layer of complexity to his role. He was not an outsider; he was a native enforcing an unpopular law against his own neighbors. His eventual death and the mythology surrounding his raids remain a central chapter in the county's oral history.
V. The Sociology and Technology of the Still
To fully understand the history of whiskey in Pocahontas County, one must examine the material culture of the still itself. It was an instrument of chemistry, engineering, and survival.
5.1 The Evolution of the Mash
The traditional mash bill of the Scots-Irish settler was pure: corn, rye, and barley malt. The corn provided the sugar, the rye the flavor, and the malt the enzymes necessary for conversion. This produced a heavy, oily, flavorful spirit.
However, the pressures of Prohibition forced a devolution in quality. To maximize profit and speed, moonshiners began to substitute cane sugar for corn. This "sugarhead" liquor was faster to ferment and produced a higher yield of alcohol, but it lacked the depth and character of true grain whiskey.
Traditional Method: Sprout the corn (malting), grind it, mash it with warm water, ferment for 4-14 days.
Prohibition Method: Mix corn meal, sugar, and yeast. Ferment for 3-4 days using baker's yeast (or "red star") to accelerate the process.
The "scorched" taste often associated with bad moonshine resulted from running the still too hot and fast, burning the mash on the bottom of the pot.
5.2 Medicinal Whiskey and Folk Cures
Despite the legal crackdowns, whiskey remained an essential component of the Appalachian pharmacopeia. In the absence of accessible professional medical care, the "toddy" was the first line of defense against illness.
Snakebite: Whiskey infused with rattlesnake meat or simply drunk in large quantities was a standard, if medically dubious, treatment.
This medicinal legitimacy provided a "gray area" for possession. Many otherwise law-abiding citizens kept spirits in the home, justified by the "medicinal exemption" that even the strictest prohibition laws often acknowledged in some form.
5.3 The Caves of Gandy Creek
The karst geology of Pocahontas County, defined by its limestone caverns, played a strategic role in the illicit trade. Caves such as those near Gandy Creek offered ideal conditions for distilling:
Concealment: Smoke from the fires could be dissipated through natural vents.
Temperature: Caves maintain a constant cool temperature, ideal for controlling the fermentation rate of the mash.
Water: Subterranean streams provided the necessary coolant.
The "Robber's Roost" in the Gandy Creek caves suggests that these locations served as nexus points for various outlaw activities, hiding both the moonshiner and the bandit.
VI. Modernity: Heritage, Tourism, and Legal Revival
The collapse of the coal and timber industries in the mid-20th century, followed by the War on Poverty and the construction of modern highways, eroded the isolation that had sustained the moonshine culture. By the 1950s, the large-scale production of illegal whiskey in Pocahontas County had declined, displaced by legal liquor stores and a changing economy.
6.1 Reclaiming the Heritage
In the 21st century, the narrative of whiskey in Pocahontas County has shifted from criminal vice to cultural heritage. The "shame" of the hillbilly moonshiner has been reclaimed as a symbol of Appalachian resilience and ingenuity.
Events like the Pioneer Days festival in Marlinton now feature demonstrations of still operation (using water), framing the act of distillation as a "pioneer skill" worthy of preservation alongside weaving and blacksmithing. Similarly, the Roadkill Cook-off, while focused on wild game, celebrates the resourcefulness of the culture. Judges at the event have noted pairings of wild game dishes with "a side of moonshine," implicitly linking the two traditions of the hunter-gatherer economy.
6.2 The Return of the Legal Still
The modern craft spirits movement has brought legal distillation back to the region, validating the historical methods of the ancestors. Still Hollow Spirits, located in Job, West Virginia (just across the county line in Randolph, but culturally and geographically contiguous), exemplifies this revival.
Still Hollow operates as a "farm-to-bottle" distillery, utilizing the same "Bloody Butcher" red corn that would have been familiar to the settlers of the 1800s. They emphasize the use of limestone spring water and traditional copper pot stills, marketing the terroir of the High Alleghenies as a premium attribute. This legal production closes the circle, returning whiskey to its pre-Civil War status as a legitimate, high-value agricultural product.
6.3 Conclusion
The history of whiskey in Pocahontas County is the history of the county itself. It reflects the struggle against the topography, the resistance to external authority, the desperation of the industrial boom, and the resilience of the agrarian family. From the "kitchen stills" of the McNeels to the "submarine stills" of the Prohibition era, and finally to the polished copper of the modern craft distillery, the spirit of the mountains has remained a constant presence—a liquid testament to the enduring culture of the high Alleghenies.
VII. Appendices and Data Tables
Table 4: Key Historical Figures in Pocahontas Whiskey History
| Name | Role | Era | Significance |
| Isaac McNeel | Merchant / Provost Marshal | Civil War (1860s) | Documented speculation in whiskey; bridged legal/illegal trade during war. |
| Lincoln S. Cochran | U.S. Marshall / Sheriff | Prohibition (1920s-30s) | The face of enforcement; famous for posing with captured stills at Marlinton Depot. |
| J.B. Sutton | Justice of the Peace | Prohibition (1920s) | Durbin official; processed mass arrests; known for "common sense" or lenient sentencing. |
| The Jones Sisters | Bootleggers | Prohibition (1925) | Rare documented female moonshiners from Deer Creek; fled state to avoid jail. |
| Brooks Bishop | Peddler | Prohibition (1921) | Arrested for selling high-proof lemon/vanilla extract as beverage alcohol. |
Table 5: Timeline of Alcohol Regulation and Events in Pocahontas County
| Year | Event | Impact on Pocahontas County |
| 1794 | Whiskey Rebellion | Ideological roots of anti-tax sentiment established among settlers. |
| 1862 | Appt. of Isaac McNeel | Provost Marshal controls whiskey trade during Civil War. |
| 1901 | Founding of Cass | Establishment of strict "dry" company town; rise of "Brooklyn" vice district. |
| 1914 | Yost Law (WV Prohibition) | State-wide ban; alcohol production moves underground before national ban. |
| 1920 | Volstead Act | Federal enforcement arrives; Lincoln Cochran begins raiding stills. |
| 1921 | Durbin Extract Raids | Crackdown on loopholes (vanilla/lemon extract sales). |
| 1933 | Repeal of Prohibition | Moonshining declines but persists as a cultural/economic niche. |
| 1960 | Closure of Cass Mill | End of the industrial era; decline of the "boomtown" drinking culture. |
Colic: Infants were given "scorched whiskey" (whiskey with the alcohol burned off) mixed with sugar or paregoric to soothe distress.
Rheumatism: Tinctures of whiskey and wild cherry bark were used as anti-inflammatories.
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