Dutch's Spirits

In the later years of Prohibition, famous mobster Dean Schultz financed a massive underground distilling operation. Comprised of interconnected secret passageways, false chimneys, and bunkers, the operation produced thousands of gallons of moonshine in its heyday.

The ingenious operation included a distillery disguised in an old cow barn, water from underground aquifers, a swimming pool used as a cooling reservoir, and a network of tunnels to make for quick escapes.

The first two times that the FBI visited the site in 1932, it was unable to find evidence of a distilling operation. Finally, federal agents raided the site on Monday, October 10, 1932 and discovered the massive illegal liquor operation via a tunnel entrance. The agents shut down the business, arrested two workers as the other escaped, and destroyed all the equipment.

Today, after an extensive archaeological survey and review, the site has been added to the State and National Register of Historic places. Dutch’s Spirits is now a legal distillery built in the footprint of the original bunkhouse site, and portions of the tunnels and bunkers remain available for viewing.

Update: The property was put up for sale in July 2023, and its future remains uncertain.