A History of Evansville Breweries

Sterling Brewers 1936

Drinking background• Germans like beer• Early beer small-scale, much like home brew• “Old Brewery” first large operation• Smaller breweries gave way to larger ones

– F W Cook Brewing Co– Evansville Brewing Association - comprised of Fulton Ave

Brewery, Evansville Brewing Co, and Hartmetz Brewery• Many survived Prohibition by making other products• Notable brands included Cook’s Goldblume and Sterling• Last major brewery in Evansville closed 1988• Evansville Brewing Company revived beer making in

Evansville, but the venture failed 1997• Tin Man brings large scale brewing back to the city

Old Brewery• Brothers-in-law Rice & Kroener

establish first brewery in area 1837

• Situated along the Wabash & Erie Canal (Indiana St)

• Became known as “Old Brewery” when Rice split off to form City Brewery (later FW Cook) in 1853

• Ran simultaneously to Fulton Ave Brewery across street 1880s

• Newer factory saw the old one out of business

• Closed 1884 and razed 1886Old Brewery complex

from the 1880 aerial map

Cook & Rice City Brewery

• Louis Rice leaves Old Brewery in 1853 and forms City Brewery with Frederick Washington Cook

• Jacob Rice (Cook’s stepdad) buys out brothers share 1857

• Rice died 1872• Incorporated as F W Cook

Brewing Co in 1885• Large fire 1891, rebuiltTop – City Brewery 1850s

Bottom – Sketch of Cook brewery c1890

F W Cook Brewing Co (cont’d)• Growing company had several large additions

1910s including new bottling house, stables and warehouse

• Kept machines oiled during Prohibition• Million dollar brewhouse 1950• Strike 1955 ultimately led to its closure 1957• Razed 1965 for Civic Center

Left – F W Cook Brewing Co c1900Middle – Brewery 1950sRight – Demolition 1965

Fulton Ave Brewery• Built 1881 across from Old

Brewery• Large collapse 1890 saw the

iconic stock house erected• Becomes part of Evansville

Brewing Association (EBA) 1894

• Large expansions early 1900s

Top, left – Original Fulton Ave Brewery building c1888Bottom, left – Stock house at Fulton and Penn c1900Bottom, right – EBA offices built 1907

Fulton Ave Brewery (cont’d)

Top, right – New bottling house 1914Bottom, left – New offices west of the main breweryBottom, right – 1969 view across Fulton Ave

• Renamed Sterling Brewery 1933 after surviving Prohibition

• New offices built 1954 when West Side Expressway built

• Closed 1988.• Evansville Brewing Co 1988-1997• Razed 1999, few buildings remain

Sterling Brewery (cont’d)

Aerial view of the brewery area around 1940

Sterling ad 1962

Hartmetz Brewery

• Also known as Vanderburgh Brewery

• Opened 1863• Located on Harmony Way

in West Heights • Joined EBA 1894• Closed c1910• Main building razed

c1940• Part still used for city

greenhouses for yearsTop – Brewery from 1884 SanbornBottom – Hartmetz Brewery c1900

Evansville Brewery

• Opened 1891 at 4th and Ingle Streets

• Joined EBA 1894• Brewing ceased 1914• Various operations

through the years• Tower removed

c1940• Brucken’s since 1969

Top – Brewery as car dealership 1926Bottom – Evansville Brewery 2010

Weber Hall / Carpenter Hall

• Weber’s Hall built c1890

• Weber’s Malt House on Fourth Ave, also known as Franklin Brewery, made malt extract

• Carpenters’ union purchases building 1922 and becomes known as Carpenter’s Hall

• 1940 addition in rear

Headquarters of Local 90Carpenter Union 1932

Other small breweries• Eagle Brewery – opened 1851 at Pearl and Water

(present site Mulzer Crushed Stone); closed c1869• Union Brewery – built 1857 on the Wabash & Erie

Canal (Courthouse block); closed 1869; later Evansville Medical Society

• Western Brewery – 1857 in Babytown (not Hartmetz)

• Crescent City Brewery – Established 1858 at Market and Ohio St. Proprietors Jauch & Hirschberger

• Olive Branch Brewery – established 1865 by Jauch (left Crescent City Brewery); located on Columbia near Cook’s Park; destroyed by fire 1871

• Washington Brewery – founded 1867 by Kroener who left Old Brewery; at 5th and Virginia

Mint Springs Distillery• Distillery and hotel• Branch office of a

whisky distillery near Owensboro

• Built 1913• Located at 2nd St and

Fulton Ave, opposite old L & N Depot

• Moved to Henderson, KY 1919 when Indiana went dry

• Later Hotel Edward• Razed c1980s

Mint Springs Distillery shortly after opening 1914

Chero-Cola

• New bottling factory built 1922 Fifth & Franklin

• Distributed Chero-Cola and later Nehi• Becomes Double Cola plant c1950s,

expands• Now Lensing Wholesale

Chero Cola fleet 1922

Other Bottling Works• Bernardin Bottle Cap Co

– Founded 1880s– One of last industries to

leave downtown– Opened plant 1949 at foot of

Mt Auburn (now Silgan)

• Coca Cola Bottling– Established locally 1903– Existing structure rebuilt

around 1926 with later additions

– Recently repurposed as office space

Top – Bernardin Bottle Works 1948Bottom – Coca Cola Bottling on Pennsylvania St

Corner Saloons

• Corner saloons as common as corner stores– 1880: one saloon for every 210

persons

• Some were licensed by the breweries to sell their brand exclusively

• Some were built by the breweries– Home Realty Co real estate arm of F W

Cook Brewing Co

• During Prohibition some became soft drink parlors, most would quietly add back liquor

• Several still standing, some still bars

Niedermeyer Saloon (c1888)on Fulton Ave

Cook’s Park• Originally a salt well and later a springs resort near

Pigeon Creek• Purchased by F W Cook 1890 who made improvements• Sold Cook’s beer• Easy street car ride for people wanting to escape the city • Prohibition forced Cook to sell park• EBA had a similar park out on West Heights

Prohibition • Several ads 1910s touting

benefits of beer• Indiana goes dry April 2,

1918• Fulton Ave Brewery

operated as Sterling Products, making ice, malt liquor, and leasing space to companies like Sugar Creek Creamery Co.

• Increase in popularity of sodas, bootlegging

• Repealed 1933 but liquor and beer now taxed

Resurgence• Shrinking number of breweries

– 1870s: 1200+– After Prohibition: 725– 1971: 76 (Sterling one of last of 4 in Indiana)

• Push from mass produced to local and unique• Microbreweries

– Turoni’s Main St Brewery (1996)

• Local breweries – Tin Man Brewery (2012)– Carson’s Brewery (2012)

Turoni’s Pizzeria/Brewery on North Main

Franklin House / Heyns Furniture

• Franklin House boarding house and saloon built c1870

• William Heyns establishes his furniture company around 1889

• Business grows and 1901 expands building; added ornamentation at top into the brickwork

• A variety of uses after the furniture company closes c1930

• Fire March 4, 1962 claims the left third

• Tin Man finishes an earlier restoration in 2012. Cheers!

Heyns Furniture Co 1901

Heyns Furniture (cont’d)c1870 Franklin St House built as boarding house / saloon

1886 Heyns takes ownership

c1889 Heyns & Co established as a furniture company

1901 Building enlarged as Heyns Block

1930s-1940s

Spillman’s Restaurant and Hotel

1950s Bud Bays Indian Sales and Service (motorcycles) / Irwin Liquors / West Side Swap Shop

1962 Left (east) section is destroyed by fire

1960s-1970s

Blue Bell Liquors / Rite Deal Furniture

1970s-1980s

Al Hocker / Rogers Used Furniture

1990s West Side Consignment & Resale

2000s Tri-State Printing

2008 Remodeled for restaurant, stalled

2012 Renovated for Tin Man Brewing Co

Questions?

Join VCHS (vchshistory.org) andvisit HistoricEvansville.com for more