The Brewery Historical

The Brewery Historical (HM1UXB)

Location: Tonawanda, NY 14150 Erie County
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Country: United States of America
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N 43° 0.833', W 78° 53.924'

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Inscription

Niagara River Greenway

In 1847 George Zent opened the first Brewery in Tonawanda at Hinds and Niagara Streets directly ahead of you on top of the embankment. Lured by the unlimited supply of fresh water from from the Niagara River, economical shipping via the Erie Canal and a rapidly expanding market of thirsty dock workers and canawlers, Zent considered Tonawanda an ideal location. Water was brought in directly from the Niagara River via a pipe built over the canal. Initial production at the facility was 6,000 barrels a year. Over time, a series of mishaps, including several fires and a tornado, damaged the wooden sructures; consequently a brick brewery was built in 1914 and under the watchful eye of renowned brewmaster Prosper Peuquet (1920-1933), operations were diverted to non-alcoholic production and forced the closure of the facility. But by 1934 the brewery was fully operational again. After over 80 years of operation under a variety of names and owners such as Niagara River Brewing Co., Busch Brewing Co., and Tonawanda Brewing Co., Tonawanda's only brewery closed forever in 1948. The abandoned brick buildings were completely demolished in 1994 to make room for a small convenience plaza. It Wasn't All Beer Besides beer brewing, several Tonawanda families started soft drink production and/or distribution businesses.
Foels Brothers Inc. founded by Charles J. Foels in 1889 on William Street produced ginger beer which they delivered by horse drawn wagon. Three brothers, Norman, Haraold and John Wulf operated Wulf Brothers Bottling Works from their basement on Minerva St. Their first order was for 25 cases of soda pop for a picnic sponsored by Grace Lutheran Church. By 1960 a new facility was turning out 85,000 cases of pop per year in 16 different flavors. Other local families like the Rechs and Batts successfully ventured into the soft drink business as well, joining the list of familiar local family names appearing on bottles of root beer, Cherry and orange pop throughout the Twin Cities.
Details
HM NumberHM1UXB
Tags
Placed ByHistorical Society of the Tonawandas
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, October 9th, 2016 at 5:02pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17T E 671234 N 4764499
Decimal Degrees43.01388333, -78.89873333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 43° 0.833', W 78° 53.924'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds43° 0' 49.98" N, 78° 53' 55.44" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)716
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Riverwalk, Tonawanda NY 14150, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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