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Stalagmites, Stalactites, Moonshine

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Seneca Caverns
Seneca Caverns

West Virginia’s largest and most beautiful caverns, Seneca Caverns, are located in the Appalachian Mountain range. Huge chambers provide majestic views for visitors and photographers, and great hiding places for bootleggers, horse thieves and murderers.

“In Prohibition, people used to make moonshine in caves all the time,” says Katie Maloney, a guide for the Mountain Institute, a Washington DC based group whose programs seek to advance mountain cultures. “There was a bootlegger, a man named Warren. When the police came after him, he escaped into the caves, because he knew them so well. His still was on [this] property.”

Man emerges from mouth of cave

She was talking about Gandy Creek near Elkins, WV, but could just have easily been discussing any of hundreds of caves in the region. “There’s an area in this cave we’re going to called Robber’s Roost, because bank robbers would hide there.” Those West Virginia outlaws had plenty of company nationally: caves by that name can be found in OH, UT, CO, OR, TX, & OK.

It’s no surprise that as the automobile became widely available and rural electrification lit up America’s backroads, formerly secure hideaways suddenly became public attractions. Seneca Caverns started offering tours in 1930. Others followed: Mammoth Cave National Park opened in 1941, for example. Well lit, heavily visited caves certainly were not conducive to hiding.

Moonshiners caught a break late in 1933. Franklin Roosevelt had defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover in the 1932 presidential race. Roosevelt supported the repeal of Prohibition, and this time a thirsty electorate agreed. On December 5, 1933, the repeal of the 18th Amendment became official.

More articles on moonshine:

Sipping free whiskey and acting like they’re in hog heaven(Opens in a new browser tab)

You don’t mean to go into the Dark Corner, do you?(Opens in a new browser tab)

Moonshine and NASCAR(Opens in a new browser tab)

5 comments

  1. Seneca Caverns is a beautiful cave, but it is NOT the “largest” cave in West Virginia, or even in the Germany Valley of Pendleton County (where it is located). The largest cave in the region is Hellhole (a “wild”, non-tour cave), both from the point of view of length and size of the rooms.

    The largest caves in WV are all located in Greenbrier and Pocahontas Counties.

  2. I had a scoutmaster who was a fanatical spelunker and he took some of the older scouts in our troop to both Hellhole and Schoolhouse, another enormous, and challenging vertical cave. On one outing we slept overnight inside a Harper’s Ferry cave; it’s a truly bizarre feeling to have no visual light cues about when to wake up or go to sleep.

  3. Bob Denton is correct. That is a statement we no longer use. Of the 3 show caves in WV we are about third in volume. What we do promote is that we are the most natural show cave in wv. We go to great lengths to keep the cave in as much of a natural state will still being able to let the public see it. Thank you for the compliment. Russell

  4. This photo is taken near Spencer,Tn, Dry Frok Gulf. The man is Mr.Charles Crain al local still Master .@1961

  5. somebody please give me Bob Denton’s phone number . . . len frenkil 410-274-9290 . . . thanks, it’s important

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