Pottstown Brewing Co.
Historic Pottstown Walking Tour
In 1886, Joseph M. Selinger moved his brewery from a stone building about a mile from Pottstown at Glasgow to a three story brick building at High & Manatawny Sts. near the “Barn Houses” that were built on the foundation of the stables for The Red Lion Inn, one of Pottstown's earliest inns. The brewery changed hands frequently in its early years and was sheriffed in 1897 due to financial problems brought on by competition with rival breweries.
The new owners razed the brewery and the “Barn Houses” to erect the building in the photograph at the right. The Pottstown Brewing Company was born. In 1910, it was incorporated with a capital investment of $125,000. By 1911, investors had added a brewery in Allentown and established a number of satellite depots in eastern Pennsylvania. At its high point, the Pottstown Brewing Co. produced 40,000 barrels a year. Prohibition sounded the death knell for the brewery; and in the latter part of 1920, the machinery and equipment were sold to investors from Cuba for a brewery there.
In 1921, the buildings and property were purchased by the Pottstown Wholesale Grocery Co. that operated from that location until 1935. The Kleen Mattress Co. occupied the buildings from 1946-50 and the Kiwi Shoe Polish Company from 1953-79. During that period, the eastern buildings were torn down for parking and in the 1980's all existing brewery buildings were erased from memory.
—David R. Kerns
Marker is at the intersection of High Street and Manatawny Street, on the right when traveling east on High Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
