Northern Brewery

Northern Brewery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Michigan State Historic Site
Location	1327 Jones Dr, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Coordinates	42°17′33″N 83°44′05″W / 42.29250°N 83.73472°W / 42.29250; -83.73472 (Northern Brewery)
Area	1.3 acres (0.53 ha)
Built	1886 (1886)
Architectural style	Late Victorian, Richardsonian Romanesque, Industrial
NRHP reference No.	79001170[1]
Added to NRHP	November 20, 1979

The Northern Brewery is a former industrial building located at 1327 Jones Drive in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.^[1]

History

In 1872 George Krause opened a brewery on this site. In 1884, Herman Hardinghaus took over brewery operations. Hardinghaus was the son of a brewer, and had already run breweries in several other cities. By 1886, the Northern Brewery had become prosperous enough that Hardinghaus was able to construct this building to house the establishment.^[2] The building was located over a natural spring, which was used by the brewery to make its beer. However, due to the consolidation of national breweries, smaller local establishments like Northern Brewery were unable to compete.^[3] The last beer brewed here was in 1908, when brewer Ernest Rehberg ceased production. Rehberg ran an ice business from this location for a time, using the natural spring water as a source. The building was later converted to a creamery, and in 1922 was used as the Ann Arbor Foundry.^[2]

The Ann Arbor Foundry was particularly notable as it was a long-standing partnership operated by Charles Baker and Tom Cook, an African-American and a Jewish immigrant from Russia. Their small-scale foundry flourished for almost 50 years, and provided career opportunities for minorities. The partnership lasted until Cook's death in 1971. In 1972, after a state citation for air pollution, the foundry was closed. The building remained vacant until 1978 when the architectural firm of Fry/Peters renovated it for office space.^[2]

The building has been occupied since 2009 by the Tech Brewery, a startup incubator. Cybersecurity firm Duo Security started in the Tech Brewery before its eventual acquisition by Cisco.^[4][5]

Description

The Northern Brewery is a two-story, brick commercial structure with a Richardsonian Romanesque-inspired facade. The original portion of the structure is a rectangular section measuring thirty-eight by fifty-four feet. The facade is three bays wide, with each bay containing segmental-arch or round-head window areas separated by pilasters. The center archway on the first floor originally housed the entrance, but was converted into a window during the 1970s renovation. The window areas have rough-cut stone lintels. A central window construction on the second floor contains a distinctive arch panel filled with basket weave brick.^[3]

The building has several additions, including a two-story, thirty-eight by thirty-two-foot rear ell and a single-story fifty-two by one hundred ten foot block addition on the side.^[3]

References