Falstaff Beer, Once the third largest Nationally, was Brewed here until 1982
Falstaff Brewery, Galveston Texas
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- Texas
- Industrial
- Brewery

The State of Texas granted a charter to the Galveston Brewing Company to manufacture and sell beer in 1893. In 1895, national brewing figures Adolphus Busch and William Lemp partnered with a group of Galveston investors to found the Galveston Brewing Company and their first locally brewed beer appeared in 1896. The Falstaff Company, purchased the Galveston Brewery in 1956, when it was one of the country's most successful breweries. An aggressive expansion and modernization campaign transformed the former Galveston Brewing Company facility into a large industrial complex through a series of accreted additions resulting in varying layers of materials and construction technologies.
Galveston Industry and Beer Making
The area west of 29th Street and close to the Port of Galveston developed in the nineteenth century as a concentration of industrial and port-related buildings. Prior to the Civil War, the area included facilities for cotton storage and packing, a gasworks, and a rail depot. Throughout the late nineteenth century the area became a popular location for "housing owned and occupied by laboring-class families" and continued to develop with juxtaposition of industrial and residential building types, a pattern that is still evident today. The site at 3302 Church Street had been part of Galveston's cotton compress district before 1895. The site housed two warehouses until 1895 as observed on the 1885 and 1889 Sanborn maps.
The plan for a brewery began in 1893 when the State of Texas granted a charter to the Galveston Brewing Company to manufacture and sell beer in Galveston. At the time, beer was a popular beverage and it was estimated that up to $402,950 in annual sales flowed to seven breweries outside the area. In 1895, national brewing figures Adolphus Busch and William Lemp partnered with a group of local investors to found the Galveston Brewing Company. Busch and Lemp were competitors in St. Louis, where they developed major production innovations, including large-scale bottling, ice-making, and beer-dedicated railroads. Half of the investment came from Busch and Lemp, with the other half coming from local investors. Galvestonian investors and early members of the Board of Directors included Berthold H. Peters, John Reymershoffer, Bertrand Adoue, Henry Wilkens, and Waters F. Davis. Before brewing could begin, they had to obtain a sufficient water source. Galveston, being an island, relied on wells for water and they were considered inadequate for a brewery because of their low volume and questionable purity. In 1895 a representative from Anheuser-Busch visited Alta Loma (present day Santa Fe, TX), located 14 miles from Galveston on the mainland, to investigate their water. He found seven artesian wells that were sufficient to supply a water main to Galveston without pumping.
Galveston Brewery hired architects E. Jungenfeld and Company of St. Louis to design the brewery, a firm known for designing many of the country's largest and most profitable breweries and incorporating the most modern brewing innovations. Designed in the Romanesque Revival style, the Galveston Brewery opened in 1896. The plant consisted of a brewhouse, storage house, stock house, wash house, racking house, wagon shed, cold storage rooms, with railroad tracks on two sides of the building. Because of its relationship to St. Louis, the Galveston Brewery bypassed many of the obstacles encountered by other Texas breweries including obtaining and transporting the large brewing tanks. Brewing equipment large and small was shipped down the Mississippi River from St. Louis and then on to Galveston. With construction complete, brewing started in October 1896.
The Galveston Brewery survived the 1900 hurricane relatively unscathed. During the storm, the brewery sheltered 300-500 people, with brewery workers dragging people into the facility and saving their lives. Except for minor damage to the outbuildings and some flooding, the brewery resumes operations shortly after the storm. The enterprise continued to prosper, and a series of improvements were made in 1906. Water had always been a critical problem for the brewery and with its expansion, a more robust supply was needed. The brewery dug new wells in 1906 with a capacity of 2 million gallons of water a day. Other improvements included the construction of an ice-making plant with a refrigeration machine and a cooling tower. The Galveston Brewery understood the local beer market and the brewery continuously grew. Improvements were undertaken in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, and 1915 to meet the rising demand. A new bottling plant designed by Galveston architects Stowe and Stowe, was added to the west side of the site in 1913, initiating the early industrial expansion of the site. By this time, the brewery employed about 100 men and was a significant fixture in the local economy.
The first brand of beer produced, called "Seawall Bond" and named for the city's Seawall, a protective wall for the city constructed along the Gulf of Mexico side of the island. By May 1907 the "High Grade" beer was on the market and billed as "the beer that's liquid food." It could be purchased by the case and delivered to your home. Practically all the beer produced at the brewery during this time was consumed locally in Galveston County.
National efforts to prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol began in the 1890s. The Texas Consolidated Brewing Association formed in 1899 to combat the trend and the Galveston Brewery was a member. The Association was sued for antitrust violations in 1915 with the prosecutor alleging the Association used their corporate means to violate corporation governing statutes. The defendants pleaded guilty and the charters of the corporations were forfeited. By 1917, all the consolidated assets of Galveston Brewery were sold and a new company, the Southern Beverage Company, emerged to manufacture and bottle soft drinks. The company kept the Galveston Brewery location in business throughout prohibition, a feat many other breweries were not able to accomplish. Southern Beverage Company, subsequently the Triple XXX Company, occupied the brewery site from 1918 through the end of prohibition in 1933. Triple XXX used the site exclusively for bottling and their Galveston operation was so successful they expanded to Houston, Beaumont, and Akron, Ohio. Triple XXX was in financial trouble by 1932. The property reverted to the bank for nonpayment of their corporate tax and was placed for sale in June 1933. It was subsequently sold to the Galveston Brewing Company.
Robert Autrey, formerly the head of Houston Ice and Brewing Company, purchased the Triple XXX Company's assets from the Galveston Brewing Company and renamed the business Galveston-Houston Breweries and returned the site to a brewery. He initiated another series of renovations that included new, modern brewing equipment. He began to brew beer under the Magnolia and Southern Select brands. Production increased throughout the 1930s and 1940s, reaching a peak of 458,000 barrels in 1948, before declining in the early 1950s. The Galveston-Houston Breweries used the Galveston site to not only produce its two beer brands, but continued to manufacture ice and the Triple XXX product into the 1950s. Autrey, with the desire to retire, but with no relatives to leave the company to, decided to sell the brewery in the 1950s. Edward Stenzel, Autrey's accountant, devised an approach where he could purchase the brewery through the purchase of stock, the formation of a corporation, a lease back, and the dissolution of the former company all at little cost to him, while still managing to create a profit for Autrey. The sale was completed in 1953. Stenzel brewed and marketed Southern Select for a short time before selling the buildings to Falstaff Brewing Corporation in 1956.
Falstaff Brewery
Falstaff began in 1903, when St. Louis brewer William Lemp, after helping to launch the Galveston Brewing Company eight years previously, created the brand and named it in honor of Sir John Falstaff, a Shakespearean character who made appearances in Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor. William Lemp, Jr. inherited the trademark upon his father's death in 1904 and sold it to fellow St. Louis brewing magnate Joseph "Papa Joe" Griesedieck in 1917. Griesedieck adopted Falstaff as the name for his entire brewing company.
By the time Griesedieck and his son Alvin purchased the Galveston Brewery in 1956, the two men had already guided Falstaff into one of the most successful brewing companies in the United States. They followed a strategy of aggressive expansion and between 1952 and 1956 through their purchases of breweries in Galveston; San Jose, California; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and El Paso, Texas. These acquisitions added to their established beer empire in St. Louis, New Orleans, and Omaha. The expansion proved wise. In 1950 Falstaff was the nation's seventh largest brewing company and by 1960 it had shot up to the third largest.
With their Galveston brewery acquisition, Falstaff sought to more ably serve beer in the State of Texas. Previously, shipments to the state were from their San Jose, Omaha, and New Orleans locations. To keep up with production needs and double the capacity, the company launched two construction campaigns. The first projects, completed in 1960, included: enclosing a portion of 34th Street that separated the two blocks of the brewery; the construction of a one-story enclosure of the westernmost block of 35th Street for bottling and storage; the construction of a granary across Postoffice (since demolished); and, the construction of a one-story building on the south side of Church Street to house brewery offices.
The second phase of the construction campaign continued through 1962 and included: the construction of a 11-story addition to the Brewhouse; the demolition and replacement of the 1895 bottling plant with a large, four-story Stock House at the northwest corner of Church and 33rd Street; and, the purchase of an already existing warehouse at 37th Street and Church.
The St. Louis engineering firm Sverdrup and Parcel, which also designed an expansion for the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis around the same time, designed the expansion. The general contracting firm, Fruin-Colnon Construction Company, also based in St. Louis, built the project. The industrial site's expansion due to production needs increased the complex's footprint from a building on the northeast corner of 33rd Street and a few neighboring ancillary buildings to a 2-block industrial production facility. The completion of the project made the Galveston Falstaff location one of the most modern and efficient breweries in the United States.
These two expansions contributed to the local economy as an employment center and through trades with local businesses. Post-expansion, employment increased to more than 350, doubling the number of employees from when the plant was purchased in 1956. By 1969 the plant occupied 15 acres and its annual production capacity increased to more than a million barrels of beer. Falstaff paid more than $4,000,000 in state taxes, purchasing more than $5,000,000 of cans from Continental Can Company, also based in Galveston, and spending an additional $13,000,000 on local products and services.
The brewery was an anchor in the community, involved in the Chamber of Commerce, as well as other civic organizations dedicated to local industry and tourism. One of the most popular Falstaff promotions was the plant tour and included an inspection of the brewing process and ended on the rooftop patio for beer sampling. Tours began in 1959 and by the mid-1960s were drawing more than 40,000 annually.
The brewery physically expanded again in 1965 with a facility for draft beer production. This new product line allowed the brewery to expedite shipments to wholesalers and retailers. Firmwide production of Falstaff peaked in 1965 with 7,010,218 barrels and the company continued their national expansion efforts. Griesedieck's son, Joseph, took control in 1961 and made unsuccessful efforts to establish brewing operations in the northeast.
Falstaff after 1968
Despite subsequent expansion efforts in the early 1970s, production of Falstaff beer dropped by 70% in the 10 years after its 1965 peak. Falstaff purchased the Ballantine and Meister Brau brands in 1972, but the purchase stretched the businesses finances and an antitrust lawsuit caused financial instability.
In 1972, Falstaff sold 52 percent of its stock to General Brewing Company, then owned by brewing magnate Paul Kalmanovitz. By 1977, Kalmanovitz acquired the remaining shares of stock and closed the St. Louis brewing operations. He moved Falstaff headquarters from St. Louis to California and began closing several of the breweries. For a short time, a beer called Steinbrau was brewed and packaged under the Pearl Beer label in Galveston (and San Antonio). However, financial difficulties proved too great and the Falstaff Brewery in Galveston closed in 1982. When Kalmanovitz died in 1987, trustees of the company attempted to restart Galveston brewing operations. They filled the chilling tanks atop the cold storage section of the 1895 portion of the brewery before abandoning the project with the tanks still full. The building could not support the weight and collapsed in 1991.
Industrial Heritage in Galveston
Galveston's early growth during the middle of the nineteenth century was due to the strength of its port. Businesses in the city produced steam engines and boilers, sugar mills and kettles, and saddles and harnesses. Cotton, however, was at the center of the city's economy. As a pivotal shipping center, Galveston became the state's "principal industrial center." By 1861, the character of the factory district north of Broadway and west of 25th Street had emerged through the construction of several large cotton compress facilities, joined by the city's gasworks and freight depot.
As commerce expanded in Galveston through the second half of the century, the cotton trade continued its dominance. In 1854, the city exported 82,000 bales of cotton and by 1900 the total had grown to 2,278,000 bales. The growth continued into the first decades of the twentieth century despite the devastating effects of the 1900 Hurricane, also known as The Great Storm. In 1904, the Galveston port led the nation in cotton exports for the first time. Total export receipts reached a pre-World War I apex of $281,457,858 in 1913. In a 1918 publication, the Port of Galveston proclaimed that "King cotton rules supreme in Galveston and Galveston rules supreme as the cotton exporting port of the world."
The reliance on cotton came at a cost. The city remained dependent on the cotton trade while northeastern cities dependent on the trade developed industry-based economies. Local leaders failed to assuage the concerns of New York and Chicago investors who believed the island's vulnerability to flooding made it a risky commercial environment. Furthermore, the discovery of oil and the growth of neighboring Houston, Beaumont, and Port Arthur began to draw people away from the island.
During this period, Galveston's economy evolved somewhat. Manufacturing industries like printing, ice and cold storage plants, iron works, and cement and pipe works began to appear. The exportation of wheat and sugar added to that of cotton in making Galveston a hub for agricultural processing. By the commercial development of the island was changing. The industrial district was growing, including more businesses like the Moore and Good Lumber Yard, the JB Walker Cistern Shop, and Galveston Pipe Works. The Galveston Brewery was blocks away. These businesses occupied large lots and used multiple buildings for on-site production.
Even though commercial diversity was emerging at this time, several large cotton processing facilities continued to dominate the area and sprawled across several blocks between 28th and 33rd Streets. The Merchants and Planters Compress and Warehouse Company owned a facility with several buildings and warehouses spaces on Market Street between 30th and 32nd Streets. The Moody Cotton Compress at Piers 31-33 was particularly massive and included eight warehouse spaces, a press building, and a cotton pickery. On either side of the press building sat four warehouses, abutting one another running from east to west. The facility was adjacent to both rail lines and the harbor allowing for easy transportation of cotton. In 1913, the Moody Compress and Warehouse Company built a new eight-block facility at 47th Street and Broadway. The Far-Mar-Co Grain Export Elevator, built by Farmers Export Company between 1976 and 1980, now occupies the site at Pier 33.
In the early twentieth century, the city saw its industrial outputs grow with the shipbuilding facilities of World War II. Bottling works for the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company and the Coca Cola Bottling Company opened and agricultural processing continued to be a primary commercial focus as evidenced by the Cotton Concentration Company's three-block complex on Winnie between 44th and 47th Streets constructed in 1948.
Despite some advances, Galveston's industrial outlook during the middle of the twentieth century was bleak. The city never fully overcame it geographical limitations in attracting major outside investment for manufacturing. Consequently, the Falstaff purchase and expansion of the brewery site was a much needed and welcomed boon to the local economy in 1956. The lengthy construction campaigns were the definitive industrial developments in industry of Galveston at the time. Citizens attached great hopes to the expansion of the brewery, as indicated by the frequent updates provided by the local newspaper. During this time, the company employed 400 people and encouraged staff to contribute to community projects. In turn, the company became a significant aspect of Galveston's identity. Even after the brewery closed in 1982, people would gather annually to reminisce about their time at the brewery.
Breweries in Texas
Texas has a rich brewing history largely due to the wave of European immigration to the state between 1830-1918. Beer drinking was a major part of the immigrants' lifestyle, and Germans, famous for their beer, represented the largest group of immigrants that came to Texas during this period. Many were middle-class farmers seeking new opportunities in Texas. Many Germans entered the United States through the Port of Galveston, a port of entry second only to Ellis Island in New York, with many continuing to other communities and small farms in Central Texas.
Before 1840, most Texas beers were principally top-fermented brews that did not need aging or maturing. These included ales, porters, and stouts brewed mainly by British immigrants. German immigrants sought to quench their desire for lager, brewed with bottom-fermenting yeast that used a secondary fermentation and had to be aged for weeks. Because there was little artificial cooling available, most beer brewed before 1860 was done in the cooler months. The breweries were small operations and used hand operated machinery, gravity flow movement, and manual pumping and hoisting and had few workers and low output.
By 1870, however, there were numerous technological improvements. Mechanization improved equipment, pasteurization gave beer a longer shelf life, and artificial refrigeration enabled large national breweries to transport their beer to Texas. The decade of the 1870s witnessed both a rapid increase and decline in Texas brewing. In 1875 there were 44 breweries. This increased to 58 in 1876 and started to decline in 1877 to only 33 operating breweries. The decline was due to the strength of large national breweries and the limited production capabilities of the Texas breweries. By June of 1889, only eight breweries remained in business in the state.
By the time the Galveston Brewery opened in 1896, the area was famous for its enthusiasm for beer. Galvestonians were particularly partial to a light, refreshing lager to combat the subtropical heat. In 1894 alone, the city's residents had consumed more than 40,000 barrels. The business community was thrilled when the Galveston Brewery opened. Not only did it offer a locally sourced beer, it also created a number of jobs and demand for other local products such as cans and bottles. The initial plant had a 50,000-barrel capacity, expandable to 100,000 barrels.
The Galveston Brewing Company was one of eight large, regional breweries that survived until prohibition. The other large surviving regional breweries were similar in the large size of their facilities, their good management, and steady sales. The Galveston Brewery switched to bottling and soft drink production during the prohibition years, a move that enabled its survival. When prohibition ended, the Galveston-Houston breweries used the Galveston brewery for Southern Select, a local beer first brewed in Houston and after having some success in European competitions and marketed as "The Beer that Made Milwaukee Jealous." The Galveston-Houston Breweries used the Galveston brewery for Southern Select production until its sale to Falstaff in 1956.
The sale of the Galveston Brewery to the Falstaff Brewery in 1956 ensured that the site would continue to produce beer. Falstaff recognized the importance of Galveston in the Texas beer market and had sought to expand their operations to Texas. The acquisition of the Galveston site allowed Falstaff to rely less on their St. Louis, New Orleans, and Omaha plants to serve the Texas market. Furthermore, the expansion and modernization of the brewery in the 1960s ushered in new era of brewing in Galveston. While the number of breweries nationwide fell from 228 in 1956 down to 158 by 1966, the Falstaff Brewery continued to operate and become a critical Galveston institution. The Falstaff Brewery years solidified the brewery as an anchor in Galveston and its brewing history.
Site Description
The Falstaff Brewery at 3302 Church (Avenue F) Street in Galveston consists of two buildings: a brewery building and an office building. The brewery building is an accretion of additions, occupying two city blocks. The building's primary elevation faces Church Street and its most prominent corner at Church and 33rd Street includes a four-story 11x9 bay concrete frame Stock House (1962). The primary elevation continues westward with a series of one-story flat-roof, concrete warehouse additions (1960s). The former main brewery entry at Church and 34th Street is a two-story, 11-bay concrete, 1960s era building characterized by alternating corrugated panels. Several earlier constructed buildings are nearly completely obscured by later additions and make up much of the interior of the building. The one-story warehouse portions of the building continue to the north side of the site, facing Post office Street. Additional portions of the building that face Post office Street include a one-story brick Bottling (1913) section, the 11-story, concrete Brewhouse Tower (1962), and the stucco-clad Brewhouse (1895) occupying the site's northeast corner and varying from 2-5 stories. The second building, the former office, is separated from the brewery complex by Church Street and is located on the southwest corner of 33rd Street. Built in 1960, it is a flat-roof, one-story L-shaped brick clad building. Collectively, the two buildings are what remains of the Falstaff Brewery that operated at the property from 1956 until its closing in 1982. Constructed on the site of the former Galveston Brewing Company and incorporating portions of that company's nineteenth century building campaign, the complex demonstrates Falstaff's growing importance in Texas during a time of national expansion. The area occupies three city blocks and is bounded by Post office (Avenue E) Street to the north, 33rd Street to the east, 35th Street to the west, with the brewery's primary elevation facing south onto Church (Avenue F) Street; the office building faces north onto Church on the southwest corner at 334 Street. The complex is located a few blocks south of the Port of Galveston in an area of mixed industrial, light industrial, and scattered residential uses.
The Falstaff Brewery is a complex characterized by segmented components delineated by function, differentiated by materials and construction technology, and built over a period of active use spanning from 1895 to 1962. The complex includes two buildings: one large interconnected brewery building with clearly defined sections; and a separate a mid-century office across Church Street at the southwest corner of 33rd Street. Each portion is identified as the following:
Stock House (1962)
Loading (1960
)
Warehouse #1 (1960)
Warehouse #2 and Office (1960)
Warehouse #3 (c.1953 - 1961)
Bottling (1913)
Brewhouse (1895)
Ice House (c. 1900-1912)
Brewhouse tower (1962)
Cellar (1895)
Office (1960)
The Falstaff Brewery is approximately five blocks west of downtown Galveston. It is three blocks south of the railroad tracks leading into the Port of Galveston, a natural deep-water harbor that developed into an important nineteenth century Gulf Coast port and propelled Galveston into prominence as the most prosperous city in the state, thereby earning it the nickname, "Wall Street of the South." Most of the nominated area occupies three blocks and is bounded by Post office (Avenue E) Street to the north, 33rd Street to the east, 35th street to the west, with the primary brewery elevation facing south onto Church (Avenue F) Street and the one-story office building facing north onto Church on the southwest corner of 33rd Street.
The brewery is eight blocks west of the Strand Historic District. Other buildings in the vicinity include the Henry Beissner House and the Willis Moody Mansion, five and six blocks to the southeast respectively. Properties to the east include the Galveston US Post Office, Custom House and Courthouse, the Model Laundry, and the House at 2528 Postoffice, a former bordello in what was once the center of the port city's booming red-light district.
Stock House (1962) is a four-story, 11 x 9 bay, concrete frame, flat roof addition located on the corner of Church and 33rd Street with its primary (south) facade facing Church. The 11-bay south facade is devoid of openings with each bay separated by square, unornamented concrete pilasters from ground level to the roofline where they merge into a similarly executed cornice line. The seven western-most bays are four stories and all clad in stucco except for the first bay which is clad with brick. The addition drops to three stories for the eastern-most three bays. Several areas of infill at the third, fourth, and portions of the second story were removed after the brewery's closing to remove large scale equipment and have since been infilled with concrete block.
The three-story east elevation is nine bays wide and follows an A-B-A pattern with the two outer flanking bays rendered in approximately a third of the width of the wider, regularly spaced center seven bays. The east elevation is devoid of openings except in bays four and five: bay four has three small, vertically stacked window openings, one per floor; bay five has three vertically stacked single door openings, one per floor. The north elevation is devoid of any openings, save for one door located on the westernmost end. The north elevation faces an open space, formerly another section of the complex that has been demolished. Beyond the open space is the two-story south elevation of the remaining portion of the 1895 Brewhouse.
The west elevation of the Stock House is five-bays and similarly detailed with concrete pilasters. In the northwest corner is a seven-story stair tower with horizontal concrete bands delineating each floor. The outermost bay of the stair tower includes vertically stacked openings with an aluminum frame window with turquoise enamel spandrel panels, a typical mid-century curtain wall system also used elsewhere in the complex on the south elevation of the loading portion and the office. The aluminum frame and spandrel panels visible at the top story is the only remaining example of the original fenestration.
There is a hospitality patio on top of the Stock House. Though a designer has not been identified, it appears the space was architect designed as it was for public use for tour receptions and tastings. There is a brick wall at the roof with a decorative brickwork wall with small openings that defines the hospitality patio that offers expansive views of the bay and the Gulf. The roof-top hospitality lounge is visible in one of the historic photo images. Portions of former porcelain enamel wall panels, flagstone pavers, and outdoor planters are extant. Large glass windows enclosing the eastern portion of the space no longer exist.
The interior of the 1960s era Stock House area is characterized by concrete and tile floors and evenly spaced concrete mushroom capped columns, typical of a factory space of this period. Wide corridors separate space in this portion of the brewery.
Loading (1960) is a one-story portion with a flat roof facing south onto Church Street. The entrance is tucked in on the east side adjacent to the Stock House. The loading component has a painted brick wainscoting capped with a concrete molding; above the wainscoting the elevation is boarded up. Just below the roofline, the same aluminum framed mid-century windows with turquoise inset panels are visible. The entry door, accessed by a short concrete stair, is aluminum framed with sidelights.
The entry portion abuts a 3-bay one story portion with loading doors. The painted brick base of the entry portion aligns with the 3-bay portion. The first bay includes one square opening above the brick base and is offset by pilasters on each side. The pilasters are brick at the base and have been encased in non-historic stucco above the brick base. The two neighboring bays are larger and each include a loading door. There is a louvered opening to the west of the westernmost loading door. None of the openings have doors or windows and this portion of the building no longer has a roof. The street-facing elevation has been updated with stucco application to the pilasters. A decorative scored concrete section surrounded in manufactured stone was added below the roofline. Manufactured stone detailing was added to the roofline. Other elevations of this portion of the building have been obscured by later additions to the complex.
Warehouse #1 (1960) is a one-story flat-roof concrete portion of the complex and includes a three-bay vehicular entrance on its south elevation facing Church Street. The south facade repeats the exterior brick wainscoting as see in the adjacent Loading addition. Warehouse #1 extends northward the full depth of the complex, up to what used to be 34th Street. Its north elevation is narrower than its south elevation and features a single metal roll-up door at the east corner and is otherwise devoid of any openings or ornamentation. Its east and west elevations are obscured by other portions of the complex.
Warehouse #2 and Office (1960) is a two-story, 11 x 3 bay concrete and concrete block portion of the complex, with a T-shaped footprint and its primary, longer elevation facing south onto Church Street. Its south elevation includes regularly spaced 11-bays with a flat roof. Warehouse #2 once served as the main warehouse entry. Like the portions discussed above, it was added to the site during the Falstaff Brewery's 1960s expansion. The concrete facade includes a recessed portion with a concrete surround and inset with painted blue corrugated panels. The corrugated panels are divided by aluminum pilasters that span the height of the recessed section. There are aluminum frame tripartite awning windows at the first and second stories in the recessed portion. There is a central paired aluminum entry door with a transom and a heavy concrete surround.
The remainder of the southern part of the warehouse is presently in use as a parking garage. The scored concrete design previously described on the south elevations of Warehouse #1 and Loading continues for the length of this portion and terminates by curving down to the sidewalk level. A central band of openings is now infilled with chain link. The sidewalk in front of this portion of the building was planted with palm trees at equal intervals and features a grass buffer between the curb and the road. This section of the complex is simple and expresses a utilitarian character typical of a warehouse design of the period.
The west facade of this portion of the building faces 35th Street and has an obtuse side gable roof with two louvered openings near its peak and two window openings above the concrete base. Its north elevation is obscured by other portions of its complex. The section of its north elevation as seen from Postoffice Street is simple with three loading openings. Two of the loading openings do not have doors and the northeast opening has a metal roll-up door.
Warehouse #3 (c.1953 - 1961) occupies the northwest corner of the complex and abuts Warehouse 2 on both its east and south elevations. It is a one-story concrete-block, warehouse addition with a flat roof. Its west elevation faces 35th Street and features a central opening with a small ramp for vehicular access. There is a roll-up door at the north corner of the west elevation. Like Warehouse #2, this portion of the complex is currently being used as a parking garage. The concrete block roof line rises above the covered entry area, creating a short parapet. A rectangular corrugated shed structure extends from the concrete block portion of the roof and is supported on metal piers at the northwest corner.
The difference in height of the entry portion is visible on the north elevation, where the northwest corner is slightly shorter than the remainder of Warehouse #3 and contains a single loading opening that has received a chain link fence. The remainder of the north elevation has five loading openings, with two being slightly larger than the others. None of the openings retain their doors and the two larger loading openings have also received a chain link fence to discourage unauthorized access.
The interior of the western portion of the co-joined warehouse space (Warehouse #1, Warehouse #2, and Warehouse
Bottling (1913) is an early twentieth century, two-story painted brick portion of the complex and has only one visible elevation. The Bottling portion features a north-facing parapet, three brick pilasters, and brick detailing between the first and second stories. The north elevation has two loading doors and one opening on the second story. Other openings have been infilled with brick. A portion of the west elevation, that rises above the adjacent one-story Warehouse #3 (ID #5) is visible. The west elevation remains unpainted and features cast stone detailing at the roofline as well as cast stone details on brick pilasters that once separated windows that have since been infilled with brick.
Brewhouse (1895) is a multi-story portion ranging from 2-5 stories on the northeast corner of the complex. Also, the oldest portion of the complex, it is masonry construction that received a stucco finish during Falstaff Brewery's 1960s-era renovation and expansion.
The four-story 1895 Brewhouse portion's north elevation has openings at each floor. The top floor openings are paired. Some openings have evidence of window frames, but no window sashes are intact. The four-story portion neighbors a two bay, five-story portion that has two rectangular openings at each floor with evidence of window frames, but no windows. The window bays on this portion of the building are separated by a stucco covered pilaster that terminates at an arched detail. The roof has a center parapet detail. The northeast portion of the Brewhouse is a three-story, flat roof building that steps down to meet a two-story portion. The second story windows of three-story portion mimic the windows on the four-story portion and have some remaining window frames but no windows. This seven-bay portion is separated by stucco covered pilasters on each side of the three central bays. The roof is missing on this portion of the building that once housed the kettle room. The roof was removed after the brewery closed to extract the kettle to be sold. The ground floor features three openings - two large windows and one loading door and are all boarded. The most northeasterly portion of the north elevation includes a three-story stucco portion of the building. This portion has square, aluminum frame windows at irregular intervals at the top floor. Some windows are extant, but in poor condition.
There is a large, rectangular multilight window at the second story. There are three, large multilight windows at the ground floor, as well as one entry that has received a modern security gate. Historic windows are extant at this portion of the building, but are deteriorated or damaged.
Its west elevation has two visible doors at the first and second floor, which once allowed for access to a since demolished neighboring building. This portion's south elevation is seven bays with a stucco finish, a flat roof and a parapet at the west end. The second story features paired multilight metal casement windows, though most are deteriorated or damaged. First floor openings have concrete sills, but do not retain their frames or windows. The rest of the southern elevation is obscured by later complex additions.
The interior of the building is divided into its respective industrial functions. Interior features of the Brewhouse include cast iron columns, arched doorways, and brick interior walls and are indicative of traditional loadbearing masonry construction technology of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A barrel-vaulted brick archway on the east side of the building interior provides access between different portions of the first floor of the building. The former machinery areas, mostly located on the eastern portion of the complex are characterized by wide open spaces with some evidence of machine footings and some remaining hoppers and kettles. The interior space is connected through a series of doorways and hallways, indicative of the need to separate industrial functions and the reality of the continual additions rather than a complex designed at one time. Some openings appear to be original to the building, while others were added during the building's later expansions to accommodate ease of travel between different operation areas. Several older portions first floor areas have I-beam reinforcements, likely added during the 1960s renovation and expansion. The second story is accessed by a steel stair. Interior brick corbeling and detailing of some of the 1895 portions of the building are visible from the interior, though bricks are missing in several locations and the mortar appears to be deteriorated.
Ice House (c. 1900-1912) is a three-story addition to the former Brewhouse and is nearly completely obscured by later complex additions. Its only visible elevation faces east 33rd Street and occupies the space between the south elevation of the Brewhouse and the north elevation of the Stock House. It is masonry construction and features a large two-story opening at its northeast corner. There is an opening at the first and second floor at its southeast end, providing access to a previously removed portion of the complex. The remainder of the elevation is stucco and is devoid of any openings or ornamentation.
ID #9. Brewhouse Tower (1962) is an 11-story concrete tower addition to the west elevation of the Brewhouse on what was previously the corner of 34th Street. The primary one bay elevation of the Brewhouse Tower faces Postoffice Street and abuts the Warehouse #1 portion of the complex. It features a single concrete frame opening at each story; no windows are extant. The tower rises far above the Warehouse #1, Warehouse #2, Bottling, and Warehouse #3 portions of the complex and thus the upper portion of its west elevation is visible. This elevation includes bands of window openings within a concrete frame; no windows are extant. The west elevation is missing its central infill material (formerly brick), revealing the interior concrete staircase.
The interior of Brewhouse Tower retains some 1960s era brewing machinery, including portions of tanks and hoppers. Some areas where tanks are present have concrete flooring with round concrete curbs to support the funnel portion of the tanks. Interior walls of the 1960s era parts of the building have painted concrete block walls. Portions of the roof are gone in several areas of the building, exposing the interior to the elements. Some areas of the building contain large rooms with concrete floors and little else. Some interior walls have subway tile, these spaces are likely where wet processes took place.
Cellar (1895) is the only portion of the complex where nearly all its elevations have been concealed by later additions. The Cellar is a three-story, flat-roofed, masonry portion of the complex that was covered in stucco. Its south elevation abuts the one-story Loading portion of the complex and its west elevation abuts the one-story Warehouse #1. Portions of upper stories of both elevations are visible from Church Street. It is devoid of any openings and any ornamentation.
The brewery building has been vacant for many years and has been prone to vandalism, as evidenced by broken windows and graffiti. Additionally, several portions of the roof are missing, exposing it to elements and causing further deterioration. However, the building remains in overall good condition.
Office (1960) is across Church (Avenue F) Street, at the southwest corner of 33th Street; the address is 3301 Church Street. It is a single-story, L-shaped, flat roof office building constructed in 1960. The elevations mirror stylistic elements of the main entrance of the Warehouse #2 at 3302 Church. The primary elevation faces the Brewery Building and features full-length aluminum frame glazed windows with painted aluminum spandrel panels above and below the glazing. The windows have operable awning portions that alternate from top to bottom and appear to be original. The main entry is at the corner of the L-portion of the building and is offset by a brick column that matches the same brick color and pattern used on the Stock House and Brewhouse addition portions of Brewery Building. There is a flat, square aluminum awning over an aluminum frame storefront door. The short portion of the L, the bar, extends northward from the entry. Its west elevation features an aluminum roofline detail above a central band of aluminum frame windows atop a brick base. The north elevation of the L bar is brick. The east elevation features the same window and panel pattern on the north elevation and sits atop a brick base.
A second entry is at the south elevation and includes a short aluminum overhang over a single man door. The south, rear elevation, and has a full-height aluminum window wall storefront system wraps to the rear east elevation and has a single door. The remainder of the south elevation is brick. The brick continues to the west elevation. The west elevation has a single door with a brick wall lining the door pathway to the south. In front of the office building is a small lawn and there is a parking area to the west. The building features many of its original features and is in good condition.
The interior office spaces and interior circulation retain their original configurations. The building is used as a school, with spaces serving as classroom and administrative areas.
Since Fallstaff closed in 1982, several different owners have each made their own alterations. For example, sections of wall infill on the south elevation of the 1962 Stock House were removed to extract brewing equipment from the second, third, and fourth stories. Portions have since been infilled with concrete block. The 1895 cold storage section at the northeast corner of the building collapsed in 1991 under the weight of a full cooling tower. During the 1990s, all the I-beams were removed from a portion of the roof structure of Warehouse #2 and #3 of the warehouse portion of the building, but the roof remains intact. The 1895 Ice Factory, which once bordered the northern edge of the 1962 Stock House was sold and demolished in 2017 after becoming unsafe after its roof collapsed. As described above, nearly all the building's windows are missing or are deteriorated or damaged.

South elevation, 1962 Stock House on right, 1960 Loading on left, and 1895 Cellar in left background (2017)

South elevation, Warehouse # 2 and 1960 Office (2017)

1960 Warehouse #2 and Office, main entry (2017)

South (right) and west (left) elevations of Warehouse #2 and Office, with view of west elevations of 1962 Brewhouse Tower and 1962 Stock House in background (2017)

West elevation, Warehouse #2 and Office right, and Warehouse #3 left (2017)

West elevation, Warehouse #3, view down 35th Street (2017)

North elevation - Left to right: 1895 Brewhouse, 1962 Brewhouse Tower, Warehouse #1, 1913 Bottling, and 1960 Warehouse #2 and Office (2017)

West elevation, stair tower detail of 1962 Stock House (2017)

Interior column detail view of 1895 Brewhouse from exterior (2017)

North elevation, 1895 Brewhouse in foreground (2017)

North elevation (2017)

East elevation of 1962 Stock House left and 1895 Brewhouse right (2017)

South (left) elevation of 1962 Stock House at 33rd and Church and east (right) elevation of Stock House and 1895 Brewhouse (2017)
