Philadelphia was once home to over a hundred breweries. Many of these were multi-building complexes constructed in the middle and late nineteenth century by immigrant brew-masters.
Whose Names Were:
Schmidt, Brewery Edward Street, Philadelphia PA 19123 (between 2nd Street and Hancock Street).
Ortlieb, Brewery in Northern Liberties (Poplar and American Streets).
Poth, Brewery in Brewerytown (31st and Jefferson Streets)
Gretz, Brewery (Oxford Street and Germantown Avenue) brewing operations ceased in 1961.
These names were ubiquitous in the city’s taverns and on billboards across its skyline. Often characterized by ornate masonry facades and a German Rundbogenstil(round-arched) architectural style, breweries added elements of refinement to the industrial landscape of neighborhoods across Philadelphia.
Poised on the boundary between Northern Liberties and Kensington, this sprawling 15-acre site was home to Schmidt's.
Philadelphia's largest and most famous brewery, established in 1860. Schmidt's was the last survivor of Philadelphia's brewing industry, closing down in 1987 after over 125 years and leaving Philadelphia without a brewery for the first time in 300 years.
Schmidt's Beer — and its tenacity — was a point of pride for all Philadelphians. The Schmidt's closure signaled once and for all the end of Philadelphia's industrial era.
BE THE NEXT PHILLY BREWMASTER . . .
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