Appalachia is characterized by winding narrow coves and hidden hollows separated by high ridges. Many of these hollows contained just enough bottomland to support an economy based on subsistence agriculture, but with each crop, the soil grew poorer and poorer. Thus, to make ends meet, farmers in communities such as Cosby and Del Rio began setting aside some of their corn crop for liquor production. These early distillers found an easy market in the taverns and saloons of Newport, itself located at a point where the Appalachian highlands meet the Tennessee Valley.