Anheuser-Busch Beer Depot 1887
The Old Market Historic Walking Tour
Omaha was a rich brew of immigrants, and many brought with them a well-developed taste for hops, giving rise to a half-dozen local breweries in the late 19th century. In 1887, Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis built a distribution complex in Omaha, designed by Henry Voss in the Romanesque style. The existing office building is all that remains of four buildings, which also included a stable, the bottling department, and a combination beer vault and icehouse. The complex had a refrigeration capacity equivalent to 10 railcars of beer. The company employed 16 men and six teams of horses for deliveries. Prohibition capped the beer business in 1916, but later the complex housed the Industrial Chemical Supply Co. and a furniture-stripping firm. In the 1960s and 1970s, the office building was a private residence for several different individuals. In 1989, Alley Poyner Architecture renovated the interior as office space for its own business. In 1988, a finial over the west doorway was toppled by wind and then stolen. It has never been recovered.
Marker is on Jones Street, on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
