This Saturday, a program at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History called “Fire Up the Stills: The Rise and Fall of the Moonshiners in 19th Century Appalachian North Carolina” will focus on the early years of moonshining.

Matt Edwards, executive director of the museum, said he is excited about this program because of the rise in fascination of moonshine.

“The longer I do this job, the more I hear people say that their uncle or grandfather used to make moonshine. This should be a very interesting program,” said Edwards.

He said that most people tend to think that moonshine got its start around the time of prohibition, but it really got started with Scots-Irish immigrants.

This History Talks program will feature author and Appalachian State University history professor Bruce Stewart, and will be based on his book “Moonshiners and Prohibitionists: the Battle Over Alcohol in Southern Appalachia.”

“It will explain why alcohol production was important to the region and why many mountain residents opposed federal liquor taxation after the Civil War. Stewart will also explain the role that the Moonshine Wars of the 1870s played in the construction of the myth of violent Appalachia. He will also discuss why many mountain residents began to demonize alcohol distillers by the turn of the 20th century,” said Edwards.

History Talks programs are free and will be held in the museum’s conference room at 2 p.m.

For more information, call the museum at 786-4478.

Reach Mondee Tilley at mtilley@heartlandpublications.com or at 719-1930.