Long before America had a “west” to claim it found the endge of the world in the highlands of the Appalachian Mountains and its many splintering tributaries. It’s the home of America’s original outlaws, a slide of freedom carved out by the poorest of British Isle refugees and Native American that comprised the ultimate counter-force to the country’s Victorian heritage, made real in the form of places like Kentucky and West Virginia.

I learned that the Fourth of July celebration in Potter County PA rages on just as hard as it did in the Midwest, but that fireworks had to share the spotlight with the fire department, the local high school football team, and the NRA. The people of places like the Blue Ridge, the Smokies, and the Alleghany Plateau have created a home for some of its most fringe (and easily most fun) obsessions, from backyard shooting ranges, hand-carved ATV courses, and mind-erasing moonshine distilleries.