Upper Peninsula Brewing Company Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Upper Peninsula Brewing Company Building
|
|
 |
|
| Location | Meeske St. and US 41, Marquette, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Built | 1893 |
| Architectural style | Romanesque, Romanesque vernacular |
| NRHP reference No. | 80001881 |
| Added to NRHP | May 15, 1980 |
The Upper Peninsula Brewing Company Building is an old office building located where Meeske Street meets US 41 in Marquette, Michigan. It is also known as the Charles Meeske House. This building was once the home and office of Charles Meeske. He was a brewer who became the company's secretary-treasurer and later its president. This historic building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Contents
What the Building Looks Like
This building is the only part left from the original company complex built in 1894. It is a two-story building made from rough, colorful sandstone. It has a stone chimney and decorative walls that look like castle tops. The main entrance is set back under a curved archway. The flat roof has a detailed border with the letters "U.P.B.Co." carved into the stone. This building used to have a secret tunnel that led to the brewery. This allowed Charles Meeske to go to work even after dark, getting around a rule that said people couldn't enter the brewery after sunset.
-
Upper Peninsula Brewing Company, 1912.
-
The Upper Peninsula Brewing Company complex in 1915.
The Story of the Brewery
A German brewer named George Rublein came to the United States in the mid-1800s. He arrived in Marquette in 1849, not long after the city was started. Rublein opened the Franklin Brewery just outside Marquette. His brewery burned down two times. So, in 1875, Rublein moved his business to what is now the corner of Meeske Street and US 41. He chose this spot because it was near a natural spring. He also changed the name to "Concordia Brewery." Rublein built several wooden buildings there. He also created ponds, outdoor seating, and a place for live shows. It was like a German Biergarten.
However, Rublein soon left the beer business. In 1879, he sold the brewery to Peter White. White then rented the brewery to two brewers from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Charles Meeske and Reiner Hoch. With their leadership, the brewery did very well. Within two years, they found they couldn't make enough beer to meet the demand. So, in 1881, they built a second brewery in Negaunee. Reiner Hoch took charge of the Negaunee plant, and Charles Meeske stayed at the Marquette brewery. The next year, they had earned enough money to buy the business from Peter White. After buying it, Meeske and Hoch formed a company. Hoch was the president, Meeske was the secretary-treasurer, and two other men were on the board of directors.
In the 1890s, Meeske replaced the old wooden buildings at the Marquette plant. He built a group of sandstone buildings that looked like small castles. The complex was about 42-acre (170,000 m2) big. It included places for storage, homes, a tall tower, and a bottling plant. Meeske kept the German Biergarten style landscaping that Rublein had started. The building at the corner of Meeske and US 41 was built in 1894. It served as Meeske's home and office, and it was also the main entrance to the brewery grounds.
By 1895, the brewery could make between 20,000 and 25,000 barrels of beer each year. They sold their beer under the name Drei Kaiser (which means "Three Kings"). When World War I started in 1913, they changed the name to "Castle Brew."
Groups that wanted to stop alcohol sales pressured Marquette County. In 1916, the county passed laws to ban alcohol. This was four years before the country-wide Prohibition began. When these laws passed, the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company stopped making beer and closed down. Charles Meeske then moved to Duluth, Minnesota.
After the brewery closed, the stone buildings were used as storage for a trucking company. But most of the buildings were later left empty and fell apart. Meeske's office building was used more often. It was a rock shop, a law firm, and an antique shop. In 1974 and 1975, most of the buildings were torn down. Only the office building and a horse barn along Meeske Street were saved. The horse barn is now part of Jilbert's Dairy. New offices for Detroit and Northern Savings Bank were built on the site. In 1980, Meeske's office was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982, a company called Humboldt Ridge bought and fixed up the building. Today, the building is home to the Marquette office of the law firm Numinen, DeForge & Mathieu, P.C.
About Charles Meeske
Charles Meeske was born in 1850 in Swinemünde, which was in Prussia. He learned how to brew beer from his father. After his training, Meeske served for three years in the German army. In 1871, Meeske moved to the United States. He lived in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for two years, working as a manager in a brewery. Then, Meeske moved to Milwaukee. There, he opened a brewery with his brothers, Gustave and Otto, and a businessman named Reiner Hoch. After three years, Meeske and Hoch bought out the other partners. They continued brewing together as Meeske & Hoch. In 1876, Meeske married Amelia Heineman, and they had three children. In 1878, Meeske and Hoch sold their Milwaukee brewery to a company from Chicago. They then moved to Marquette to take over the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company. Meeske became the secretary-treasurer. They also bought a nearby milling company. In 1881, their company opened a second plant in Negaunee. Hoch took charge of the Negaunee plant, while Meeske stayed at the Marquette site. Besides the brewery, Meeske was also involved with the Ishpeming Street Railway Company and the Marquette Savings Bank. He also had interests in several mines. When Reiner Hoch left Marquette, Meeske became the president of the company. When alcohol was banned in Marquette County in 1916, Meeske moved to Duluth, Minnesota. He joined Reiner Hoch at his Duluth Brewing and Malting Company there.
About Reiner Hoch
Reiner Hoch was born near Cologne, Germany in 1851. His family moved to Waukesha County, Wisconsin, the next year. Hoch grew up on the family farm. When he was eighteen, he went to business college in Milwaukee. After graduating, he started a beer-bottling business with his brother-in-law. Then, he partnered with Charles Meeske and his two brothers in a brewery. Hoch married Mathilda Geele in 1878, and they had three children. In the same year, Hoch and Meeske moved to Marquette to run the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company. Hoch eventually took control of the company's Negaunee plant. Hoch had other business interests too, including a furniture company and the Negaunee and Ishpeming Street Railway. In 1896, Reiner Hoch moved to Duluth, Minnesota. There, he started the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company. This company stayed in business through the time of Prohibition and the Great Depression. Charles Meeske's son, Carl, eventually led the company.
