PeterSchoenhofenandMattheusGottfried opened a brewery at 12th and Jefferson in 1860, continuing a tradition of brewing in Chicago that began with German immigrants in the 1830s. So popular was beer among German and Irish immigrants that attempts in 1855 by Chicago's mayorto restrictits sale and consumption resulted in a massive riot, known today as the Lager Beer Riot.

Schoenhofenand Gottfried moved theirbrewing operationto 18th andCanalportin 1862.

By the 1860s, Chicago's German-dominated brewing scene had become a sizable industry, and with growth came the need for brewers to modernize their production and distribution processes. Chicago’s brewing leaders, includingSchoenhofen, revolutionized the industry by implementing new "scientificbrewing" standards in their breweries. German immigrant John Siebel even opened a brewing school called the Siebel Institute of Technology, which still exists in Chicago today.

Breweries grew steadily until Prohibition began in 1920.Schoenhofenstayed open for a few years by producing a non-alcoholic soda, but shut down operations at this location in 1924. Prohibition ended in 1933, but by this timeSchoenhofenhad joined the National Brewing Company. Brewing in Chicagodid not recoverfrom the effects of Prohibitionuntil the micro-brewing revolution began in the 1970s. Severalbreweries, includingLagunitas, Goose Island, and Half Acre, have opened and thrived in Chicago in recent decades.

Of the more than a dozen buildings built and occupied bySchoenhofenat its height, about one third remain, including the administration building (facing 18th), which opened in 1886, and the Powerhouse building (facingCanalport), constructed in 1902. Additional buildings original to the brewery can be seen on Canal and Clinton.

The administration and Powerhouse buildings are designated Chicago Landmarks. They and the other remaining brewery buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as theSchoenhofenBrewery Historic District.

Chrucky,Serhii. "SchoenhofenBrewery."Forgotten Chicago.http://forgottenchicago.com/articles/schoenhofen-brewery/. Accessed August 2016.

Karamanski, Theodore and Eileen McMahon, eds.Civil War Chicago: Eyewitness to History.Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2014.

"Schoenhofen(Peter) Brewing Co." Encyclopedia of Chicago Online.http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2834.html. Accessed August 2016.

Zangs, Mary.The Chicago 77.Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014.

Historic image courtesy Library of Congress and Historic American Buildings Survey

Text by Hope Shannon, Loyola University Chicago