Thurmont in Frederick County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Blue Blazes Still

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, December 27, 2014

1. Blue Blazes Still Marker

Inscription. What the police discovered at the Blue Blazes Still was startling. This was not a small, family still but a big, commercial whiskey operation. Police found coils, cooling boxes, hoses, and eighteen 500-gallon-vats— the largest best equipped still they had ever come across in Frederick County.

The economic incentive of making whiskey was great during Prohibition. The price of backwoods grog soared from $2 to $22 a gallon in such places as Washington, Baltimore, and New York.

Erected by The National Park Service.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce.

Location. 39° 38.286′ N, 77° 26.983′ W. Marker is in Thurmont, Maryland, in Frederick County. Marker can be reached from Park Central Road. In Catoctin Mountain Park, along the Blue Blazes Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Thurmont MD 21788, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. A Fatal Shootout (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Making Whiskey (approx. ¼ mile away); Blue Blazes Whiskey Trail (approx. ¼ mile away); A Tradition of Conservation (approx. ¼ mile away); Preparing the Hearth (approx. half a mile

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away); Making Charcoal (approx. 0.6 miles away); Wood Hauler's Sled (approx. 0.6 miles away); Collier's Hut (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Thurmont.

More about this marker. This marker refers to the police raid on the distilling operation in this neighborhood, known as "Blue Blazes" in 1929, in which Deputy Sheriff Hauver was killed. It draws a distinction between the large commercial operation found here in 1929 and the nearby small, "family sized", demonstration still.

Also see . . . Moonshining in the Catoctin. by George Wireman, Emmittsburg Area Historical Society. (Submitted on December 28, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.)

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, December 27, 2014

2. Blue Blazes Still Marker

Local Residents examine the large vats discovered in the raid. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Allen C. Browne, December 27, 2014

3. Local Residents examine the large vats discovered in the raid.

Close-up of photo on marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on December 28, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 417 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 28, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.