Today’s story takes us to Franklin County, Virginia.

A quiet, wooded stretch of the Blue Ridge Mountains. But in 1935, it became the unlikely stage for one of the biggest liquor trials in U.S. history. They called it The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial—and when it was over, the government had arrested dozens of people, including sheriffs, lawyers, and some of the best-known families in the region.

This wasn’t just about whiskey. It was about power, pride, and a secret economy that had kept a whole county afloat.