FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Karen Beasley, Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association
PHONE: 256.350.3500 / 800.648.5381
EMAIL: karen@northalabama.org
Recall LaGrange’s Raid on Moonshine to be Reenacted May 4
Decatur, Ala. (February 28, 2024) – The reenactment of a law enforcement raid on a moonshine still will take place the first Saturday in May at the LaGrange College Site Park located in Leighton. Set for May 4, 2024, Recall LaGrange’s Distillery Raid on the Mountain offers a day of living history events, Civil War displays and demonstrations, arts and crafts, musical entertainment and more. The event commemorates the 194th anniversary of the LaGrange College and Military Institute, Alabama’s first college.
Recall LaGrange’s Distillery Raid on the Mountain features a period correct living history centering on a Prohibition Era raid on a suspected moonshine still. A group of lawmen will descend on the pioneer village of LaGrange and will engage in a brief skirmish with the locals. The skirmish is slated for 2 p.m.
While the highlight is the prohibition era raid on a moonshine still, the day-long event offers other important historical accounts, Civil War collections and fun activities for the family. The Alabama Bicentennial Table once owned by Senator Charles Tait, who prepared the bill that was used for Alabama statehood, will be on display and there will be art/crafts demonstrations, a fundraiser bake sale, food trucks and displays of antiques and fragments of period moonshine stills. The observatory, featuring a new telescope, and pioneer and log buildings located in the park will be open for tours, living history presentations will be ongoing and there will be tours of Dawson Distillery located near the park during the festival.
There will be wagon rides to historic LaGrange Cemetery. This antebellum Civil War cemetery is listed on the Register of Landmarks and Heritage and is within walking distance of the LaGrange College Site. Of particular interest is the marker for the Petrified Lady, Annie Vinson Ford, who was discovered petrified after being removed from her burial plot to another plot in the cemetery.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted at the gate for up-keep of the historic park and cemetery.
Distillery Raid on the Mountain takes place at the LaGrange College site located in northwest Alabama, eight miles southeast of Muscle Shoals, off Highway 157 at 1491 LaGrange College Road, Leighton, Ala. For more information, call (256) 702-6953 or Colbert County Tourism at (256) 383-0783.
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About Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA)
AMLA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the $4.3 billion North Alabama travel industry within the 16 northernmost counties of the state. It is supported by 500-plus members consisting of chambers of commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, attractions, campgrounds, festivals, communities, golf courses, restaurants, accommodations and vendors. Counties included within the AMLA region are Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston. Additional information on North Alabama destinations, accommodations and special events is available by calling 800.648.5381, by visiting www.NorthAlabama.org and by following us on social media @VisitNorthAL.
