Old Lone Star Brewery

In 1883, John Henry Kampmann and Mr. Edward Hoppe, two prominent San Antonio Businessmen, formed a stock company to erect a brewery. This company became the Lone Star Brewing Company and officially opened for business on September 12, 1884. It was situated on Grand Avenue, the name later being changed to Jones Avenue in about 1890. This was near the Sun-set Railroad Depot on a seven acre tract owned by the company and was valued at $500,000. The plant was equipped with the most modern machinery of the day and had its own ice plant, cooper shops and bottling works.

The St. Louis brewing titan, Mr. Adolphus Busch, had, a large financial interest in Lone Star and even served as the company's president for several yeais around the turn of the century. The Lone Star Brewery was the first brewery outside of the home factory in St. Louis in which Mr. Busch made a sizable financial investment.

The first officers of the company in 1884 were Mr. J. H. Kampmann, president; Mr. H. Barbeck, vice president; Mr. L. S. Berg, secretary and Mr. H. D. Kampmann, treasurer. Mr. Otto Koehler, an experienced brewer from St. Louis, was manager. However, in 1886, Koehler left Lone Star and, with several prominent San Antonians, founded the San Antonio Brewing Association.

In The Texas Liquor Dealer of December 1900, an article lauding the healthful benefits of the beers manufactured by the Lone Star Brewing Company states that in spite of the cost of producing only the finest grade beers, the company had shown a larger percentage of gain than any other brewing concern in Texas. Its products had attracted attention throughout the states to such an extent that the company had not been able to meet the demand. Therefore the company started to make extensive additions to its already large plant in San Antonio. These additions gave it an annual capacity of over 250,000 barrels making it the largest brewery in the state.

In 1897 the brewery had drilled an artesian well to supply the brew house and during the summer of 1900 the task of enlar-ging the brewery was begun. According to an article in the San Antonio Gazette of August 1905, many of the original buildings had been built of wood. Most of these were torn down and the new buildings were constructed of pressed brick. No expense was was spared in their architectural beauty. The plant and yards then covered an area of ten acres. Through the Texas Transportation Company they had a motor switch connecting the plant with the principal railroads. In addition to an enormous local trade they shipped both keg and bottled beers to all parts of the state For this they had thirty private refrigerated cars.

Form 10-300o (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) # 3 STATE TEXAS COUNTY Bexar FOR NPS USE ONI .Y ENTRY NUMBER DATE OCT b (Number all entries) 8. (continued) the brew house and during the summer of 1900 the task of enlar-ging the brewery was begun. According to an article in the San Antonio Gazette of August 1905, many of the original buildings had been built of wood. Most of these were torn down and the new buildings were constructed of pressed brick. No expense was was spared in their architectural beauty. The plant and yards then covered an area of ten acres. Through the Texas Transporta-tion Company they had a motor switch connecting the plant with the principal railroads. In addition to an enormous local trade they shipped both keg and bottled beers to all parts of the state For this they had thirty private refrigerated cars. Their own artesian well which supplied the brew house, also provided first class fire protection. Fire plugs were stationed at convenient points and this coupled with the fire-proof nature of the new structures made it absolutely safe. In compliance with revenue regulations, their bottling department was located across the street from the brewery and was well-equipped with machinery for cleaning, bottling and labeling the beer.

All this was accomplished under the direction of Mr. Adolphus Busch with Mr. B. Adoue, a prominent capitalist of Galveston acting as vice-president. Mr. Henning Bruhn was secretary-treasurer and manager of the company. Mr. Bruhn had been connected with the Pabst Brewing Company in Ft. Worth before coming to San Antonio. Besides the re-building of the main structures on the site, many of the smaller buildings which had occupied a large part of the grounds were torn away to make a park.

Under the able guidance of Mr. Busch and consecutive directors, the Lone Star Brewery enjoyed continued success until the advent of prohibition. It was World War I that accelerated the demand for prohibition. The use of grains, cereals, fruit or other food products so vital to the war effort prohibited the manufacture of beer or other intoxicating beverages. The Lone Star Brewing Company turned to the manufacture of a non-alcholic beverage named "Tango." This product, however, was never a success, and for the past decades the complex has been utilized for a variety of warehouse and storage purposes.