Breweries of Wisconsin

Appendix A: Monuments to the Past

Appendix A Monu.ments to the Past: The Remaining Brewer.,. Bulldings During the last half of the nineteenth century, breweries were opening everywhere, and in Wisconsin their number grew to well over three hundred. Possibly, if every small, home-brewing operation were counted, this number could be tripled or quadrupled. With the arrival of Prohibition, however, the growth trend was quickly reversed. Even after the repeal ofthe Volstead Act, breweries faced a continuing struggle to stay in business. Eighty-one of those surviving the Prohibition era closed soon after beer began to flow again. One key factor was the Depression, which brought a great upheaval in the economic and social structure of the United States. All ofAmerican business was, for a time, at a virtual standstill. The banking structure had dissolved and loans were almost impossible to get. Millions of people lost their homes, their savings, and their jobs. Although it might seem that in such hard times many would turn to alcohol for solace, the breweries-in Wisconsin, at least-saw no great increase in demand. The Struggle to Su.rvive The breweries that managed to survive Prohibition by making soda water and malt products for home-brewing use found themselves in a slightly better financial position than those that had been idle. The combined forces of Prohibition and the Depression, however, seriously depleted the surviving breweries' operating capital and financial reserves. Beer production eventually recovered, in large part because of the abundant supply of cheap labor, and many breweries soon surpassed their former production records. This did not necessarily mean that brewing was a profitable business. Beer brought a low price and, even so, few people had much money to spend on it. The next several decades saw World War II, the push for advanced technology, the nuclear and space ages, My Lai, Watergate, and fuel shortages. In addition, there was unionism, civil rights, racial and political violence, rock 'n' roll, and student activism. 197 198 Appendix A During this period of national and international upheaval, formidable changes occurred within farm communities as well. Country schools were closed and consolidated into larger school systems, country stores lost customers to shopping centers and malls, and even churches tried to consolidate and grow larger. Tractors and other new machinery made farming less difficult. Some farmers bought more land, others simply sold out and moved to the cities. The move was to become modern, to expand and utilize the many new products developed as a result of the great technological explosion . Everyone, it seemed, wanted "Progress." Many Wisconsin breweries weren't able to keep up with the fastpaced social, economic, and industrial changes. Forced to cut their losses, many small breweries sold out to the competition. Others simply closed. The impact of these closings on local communities included lost jobs and decreased property tax revenue. But because most of these breweries were small-many employed fewer than twenty peoplethe immediate, visible loss did not appear great. The closing of local breweries was seen as part of the trend, a contribution to progress. It was possible, after all, to purchase a Milwaukee beer at a cheaper price than what the local breweries charged. What was really lost when a local brewery died was a piece of the community itself. Each small brewery produced a unique brew, one that was brewed to the individual taste of a particular community. Visible Reminders of Our History Wisconsin is virtually a brewery graveyard. You don't have to travel very far in the state before finding the remains of an old brewery. Many of these brewery structures are more than one hundred years old and are among the larger buildings in a community. Built primarily of brick or stone for one specific purpose, breweries were extremely well-constructed and strongly reinforced. They are among the most peculiar, individual works of architecture. Many of these fine old buildings still stand, representing a fascinating part of Wisconsin's history. Without the many long-gone breweries they represent, the early days of one of the state's greatest industries might come to be forgotten. The locations of these old brewery buildings are listed for anyone wishing to take a journey into brewing's rich past. Wherever possible in the following list, the location of brewery buildings still standing is given, the building's recent use is identified, and there is a brief history of the brewery once operated there. (Since completion of this research, some of these brewery buildings...