Muessel-Drewry's Brewery | |
![]() Muessel-Drewry's Brewery, November 2013 | |
Location | 1408 Elwood Ave., South Bend, Indiana |
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Coordinates | 41°41′37″N86°16′16″W / 41.69361°N 86.27111°W Coordinates: 41°41′37″N86°16′16″W / 41.69361°N 86.27111°W |
Area | 11 acres (4.5 ha) |
NRHP reference # | 00001543 [1] |
Added to NRHP | December 28, 2000 |
Muessel-Drewry Brewery is a historic brewery complex and National historic district located off the crossroads of Portage Road and Elwood Avenue in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. It originally encompassed seven contributing buildings and two contributing structures, listed as a series of grain silos as one structure and a smoke stack as the other. It developed between about 1865 and 1949, and consists of a mix of industrial buildings that are made of period brick from their respective era, as well as pole barn outbuildings and a series of grain silos and a large smoke stack. The buildings are associated with Christopher Muessel, a German immigrant, who was known for his forward thought in developing brewing technology and processes, and what later became Muessel Brewing Company, ran by Muessel's kin upon his passing until going out of business in 1933 as a product of not being able to survive as a non-alcoholic beverage company in the prohibition era in the United States. The Muessel family was a significant contributor to the growth of what is now known as District 2 in South Bend. In addition to the hundreds of homes that provided housing for staff, the family also contributed the largest park in the area, as well as a local school, both of which are still in existence today, Muessel Grove Park and Muessel Elementary School. The family also was a local sponsor of South Bend's professional football team, the Muessel Brewers, which was coach by football legend and local hero Knute Rockne to an undefeated season while Rockne had an all-star senior year as Captain of the Football team at neighboring University of Notre Dame. [2]
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer has taken place since at least 2500 BC; in ancient Mesopotamia, brewers derived social sanction and divine protection from the goddess Ninkasi. Brewing was initially a cottage industry, with production taking place at home; by the ninth century monasteries and farms would produce beer on a larger scale, selling the excess; and by the eleventh and twelfth centuries larger, dedicated breweries with eight to ten workers were being built.
South Bend is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 318,586 and Combined Statistical Area of 721,296. It is the fourth-largest city in Indiana, serving as the economic and cultural hub of Northern Indiana. The University of Notre Dame is located just to the north in unincorporated Notre Dame, Indiana, and is an integral contributor to the region's economy.
St. Joseph County, commonly called St. Joe County by locals, is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of Census 2010, the population was 266,931, making it the fifth-most populous county in Indiana. Formed in 1830, it was named for the St. Joseph River which flows through it toward Lake Michigan. The county seat is South Bend.
Post prohibition, Drewrys, a Canadian brewing company, purchased the site and resumed brewing. From 1936 to early 1972 Drewry's operated as the largest distributor of any of the South Bend/Mishawaka breweries. [3] In June 1972, G. Heilman Brewing Company bought Drewry’s from its parent firm; and brewing at the South Bend plant ceased in September of that year. The complex went through a series of owners since 1972 and was largely scrapped until it was purchased in late December 2014 by an Arizona based owner who purchased the site.
Drewrys Extra Dry was a brand of Canadian beer established in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1877, and brewed for much of its history in South Bend, Indiana.
The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, was a brewery firm that operated from 1858 to 1996. It was ultimately acquired by Stroh's, and its independent existence ceased. From 1872 until its acquisition, the brewery bore the family name of its co-founder and brewer Gottlieb Heileman.
In 2016, the City of South Bend officials deemed several buildings to be structurally unsound and publicly stated that for 44 years the buildings ordered to come down have been unsafe. [4] Several of the structures ordered by the City to come down were part of the National Register of Historic Places. [5]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.
In 2016, the owner commenced abatement which would become of one of the largest asbestos removals in the region and clearing the site of asbestos that had been left to deteriorate in condition by former owners. [6]
In 2017 the owner completed the demolition required by City officials and the City released the demolition permit.
In 2019, the site has now been re-branded as Rockne Industrial Center and has been proposed for nutrient dense food cultivation by the current ownership. The owner has proposed to the City to restore the history of the Muessel family in an outdoor mural on the section of the site that fronts the site and to work with Notre Dame to expand its presence back in the community in honor of one of their greatest football legends, Knute Rockne.
It still has several historic buildings (as the city counted multiple extensions of one building in their calculation of total buildings to come down), as well as 4 grain silos and the historic smoke stack, all of which have been deemed to be structurally sound.
Despite the owner's efforts, the City of South Bend has ordered the remaining structures to be down citing remaining brick from the original historic structures which is to be used in the reconstruction of the site. The City reaffirmed a demolition order in June 2018 ordering the removal of all of the remaining historic structures and a newer building without any code violations citing a blanket to do so over the site.
The City has yet to provide any assistance in what the owner has stated is a mission to restore jobs to the community by returning industry to the site. [7]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. [1]
Knute Kenneth Rockne was a Norwegian-American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame.
A grain elevator is an agrarian facility complex designed to stockpile or store grain. In grain trade, the term grain elevator also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits it in a silo or other storage facility.
Smoked beer is a type of beer with a distinctive smoke flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame. The Rauchbiers of Bamberg in Germany, Schlenkerla in particular, are the best-known of the smoked beers.
Grain Belt is a brand of beer brewed in the American state of Minnesota, by the August Schell Brewing Company. The beer has been produced in a number of varieties. Grain Belt Golden was the original style introduced in 1893. The current offerings are: Grain Belt Premium, first introduced in 1947; Grain Belt Premium Light; Grain Belt Nordeast, introduced in April 7, 2010; and the newest offering, Grain Belt Lock & Dam, introduced in 2016. It was originally produced by the Minneapolis Brewing Company which formed with the merger of four smaller brewers in 1891. Soon after introduction, Grain Belt became the company's flagship product. It was brewed at the original Grain Belt brewery in Minneapolis, Minnesota until 1976. A series of other owners followed, and Schell took over the product line in 2002.
Brewerytown is a neighborhood in the North Central Philadelphia district of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. An unofficial region, Brewerytown runs approximately between the Schuylkill River's eastern bank and 25th Street, bounded by Cecil B. Moore Avenue to the north and Parrish Street to the south. Brewerytown got its name because of the numerous breweries that were located along the Schuylkill during the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is now primarily a residential neighborhood, with a growing and active commercial sector along Girard Avenue.
The Brewery District, traditionally known as the Old German Brewing District., is a neighborhood located in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Located just south of the central business district and west of German Village, it is bounded by Interstate 70 on the north, South Pearl Street on the east, Greenlawn Avenue on the south, and the Scioto River on the west.
The 1906 Olympia Brewery brewhouse, known locally as "the Old Brewery", is located at the base of the Tumwater Falls in Tumwater, Washington. Once the manufacturing site for Olympia Beer, the classic Mission Revival structure, designed by prominent local architect Joseph Wohleb, replaced the initial wooden plant constructed in 1896. Dedicated in 1906, closed since the advent of Prohibition, this imposing redbrick structure has long served as a landmark for local residents and drivers along Interstate 5. A new brewery was built in 1934, uphill from the original brewhouse. Brewing operations in a modern plant on the site ended in 2003.
The Schoenhofen Brewery Historic District is centered on the former site of the Peter Schoenhofen Brewing Company at 18th and Canalport Avenue in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Photo of the building
The Saint Paul Municipal Grain Terminal, also known as the head house and sack house, sits on piers over the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was built between 1927 and 1931 as part of the Equity Cooperative Exchange and is a remnant of Saint Paul's early history as a Mississippi River port city. The Saint Paul Municipal Grain Terminal was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The Henry Weinhard Brewery complex, also the Cellar Building and Brewhouse and Henry Weinhard's City Brewery, is a former brewery in Portland, Oregon. Since 2000, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In that same year, construction began to reuse the property as a multi-block, mixed-use development known as the Brewery Blocks.
The North Beach Malt House is an historical landmark building, located at 445 Francisco Street in San Francisco, California. It originally served as a malting factory and brewery for 40 years. It was nearly destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Edelweiss is the name of two brands of beer:
The Upper Peninsula Brewing Company Building is an office building located at the intersection of Meeske Street and US 41 in Marquette, Michigan. It is also known as the Charles Meeske House. The structure served as the home and office of brewer Charles Meeske, secretary-treasurer and later president of the company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Neuweiler Brewery, also known as Germania Brewery, is a historic brewery complex located at Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The complex was built between 1911 and 1913, and consists of the office building, brew house, stock house, pump house, wash house, chemistry lab building, boiler room, bottling house, garage, fermenting cellar, and smokestack with the name "Neuweiler" on it. The office building is a two-story, brick and granite building. The remaining buildings in the complex are built of brick. The brew house stands six-stories, and has a copper hipped roof with cupola. The stock house is a long, narrow four-story building. The brewery closed in 1968.
Jackson Koehler Eagle Brewery was a historic brewery complex located at Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania. The original section constructed in 1891 consisted of the brewhouse with grain tower, racking room, filter room, and keg wash room. Later additions include the storage cellar, keg receiving and storage rooms, and rathskeller (1936). The complex was constructed of brick, with Germanesque-Teutonic-style influences. A brewery was sited here as early as 1855. It was originally begun by Joseph Kalvelage SR.The Eagle Brewery merged into the Erie Brewing Company in 1899. The Erie Brewing Company closed in 1978. It was demolished in 2006.
The Schmidt Artist Lofts is a historic former brewery for Schmidt Brewery. It is located in the West Seventh neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The building was vacant for 11 years until a massive community and developer effort resulted in a plan for a revitalization of the brewery's historic building into the creation of the Schmidt Artist Lofts in 2013.
The Old Lone Star Brewery complex is located at 200 West Jones Avenue, downtown San Antonio, county of Bexar, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
South Bend Brewing Association is a historic brewery complex located at South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. The main plant was built in 1905, and is a large, irregularly shaped brick building with a four-story section. It features square corner towers and a crenellated parapet. A one-story, glass paneled storefront was added in the 1950s. A separate bottling works building was constructed in 1910.
The Imperial Brewing Company Brewery is an abandoned Late Victorian/Romanesque Revival-style industrial site located at 2825 Southwest Boulevard in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Built in 1902, the surviving brewhouse and stable were part of a larger complex developed by Ludwig D. Breitag, a German immigrant and stone contractor. An icehouse and other buildings in the complex were demolished when the site was converted to a flour mill during Prohibition. From 1919 until its closure in the mid-1980s, Imperial Brewery became commonly known as the Boulevard Mill. Although the existing structures have suffered from fires and vandalism, the footprint and integrity of the brewhouse and stable building are intact. The current owner of the property is seeking parties interested in redevelopment of the site.