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“Those Gangsters Were No Dummies”

Posted on January 14, 2011

One of the lesser-known attractions of Paris is a boat tour through its underground sewer system.  I hope that one of the better-known attractions of Pine Plains will be the restoration of Dutch Schultz’s underground distillery now being planned.  Before any of the work started, I went on a tour of the “facility” with the current property owner, Dan Adams.

By the way, if this looks as if a man is trying to disappear into that hole in the brush, well, that was the whole idea.  It leads to where the huge moonshine operation had been hidden since The Prohibition in a warren of underground rooms and tunnels.  I’ve heard about this for years and was finally able to take a tour.

Come along, see for yourself!

There’s obviously a lot of history here that cannot be found in books or archives: Dutch, Legs, the W.D.A.N., and more will be tumbling up to the surface.  Some remains barely alive in the collective memory of Pine Plains.  Like the tunnels and the rooms they connect, I thought it would be fun to restore some of this history.  I was thinking that we should crowd-source this history.  If anyone knows more of the stories in this post, how about contributing in the form of a comment below or contacting me through the website.

Here are some newspaper clippings of the history of the still, the Ryan farm, the W.D.A.N., etc.

Well, the new owners have started the restoration of the property and have created their own website.


A still was imported from Germany and assembled in the new building in Pine Plains.

4 thoughts on ““Those Gangsters Were No Dummies””

  1. Arthur Krasinsky says:
    April 4, 2020 at 10:02 am

    Interesting times and video, great steadycam work.

    Reply
    1. stan says:
      April 4, 2020 at 10:30 am

      Hi Arthur,

      Steadyhand, never had a steadicam. But fortunately, my current camera has internal stabilizers — just in time for my old age…

      Reply
  2. susan treacy says:
    March 18, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    how absolutely fascinating !!!!! i would love to explore there. just imagine when it was active and working. my grandaddy down in virginia had a still, and my mother would talk about when folks came to buy liquor, the kids would have to go out and get it from wherever it was being hid at the time, sometimes it was the hollow of a tree, or a hole in the ground.

    Reply
  3. Fred R. says:
    January 24, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    This is kinda cool

    Reply

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WHY THIS WEBSITE

I came to Pine Plains by choice, not by chance of birth.

But the small-town rural community I chose is changing. The farmers have, for the most part, sold to people from the city and fields are becoming lawns.

And, like the land, people, too, are becoming subdivided as difference breeds distance rather than discourse.

I have been making these videos to preserve and reconstitute what I can of a changing way of life and to share it with the community.

On a more personal level, I am making this website as a way of holding on to the reasons why I came here.

Stan Hirson

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