page_title: Brewery District (Columbus, Ohio)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Brewery District (Columbus, Ohio) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: old brick sidewalk in brewery district
context_page_description: The Brewery District, traditionally known as the Old German Brewing District, is a neighborhood located in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Located just south of the central business district and west of German Village, it is bounded by Interstate 70 on the north, South Pearl Street on the east, Greenlawn Avenue on the south, and the Scioto River on the west.
context_section_description: The confluence of the Scioto River, the Columbus Feeder canal, and a spring-fed ravine made this area ideal for opening breweries. The first brewery was opened by Louis Hoster, Jacob Silbernagel and G. M. Herancourt in 1836. Hoster soon bought out his other two partners, and significantly increased production of the beer that bore his name. Seeing the success of the brewery, other local businessmen opened additional breweries. At its peak the Brewery District was host to other major breweries: Schlegel Bavarian Brewery/Schlee Brewery (1849-Prohibition), Born's Capitol Brewery (1859-Prohibition), Gambrinus Brewing Company (1905-1974)
  Soon after the opening of the breweries, homes were built in the area to house brewery and other industry workers. The area has a mix of German style ​1 ¹⁄₂-story, brick homes and Italianate.  Today, many of these historical homes remain and add character of the Brewery District. Carved stone lintels, round, curved windows and doors, and hood moldings are just a few examples of architectural elements that are preserved in the district. The Brewery District Commission, established by an ordinance in 1993, is made up of seven appointees who are charged with the duty to, “preserve, protect, and enhance the unique architectural and historical features of the Brewery District.”
  The Commission considers and approves applications for exterior alterations to facades of buildings within the Brewery District limit in hopes of maintaining its character. The breweries flourished during the Civil War,  keeping pace with new innovations in the industry as they came, but a little later on, this modernization along with economic depression, caused smaller breweries to struggle. Because some breweries were able to modernize and combine many aspects of their brewing process into one- such as malting, bottling and other steps- the smaller breweries which could not carry out this modernization had to consolidate or close. By 1904, the remaining three large breweries had to merge into the Columbus Brewing Company, mostly due to Temperance movements gaining momentum in that time in Ohio and the start of World War I. In 1919, the 18th Amendment began Prohibition and City Brewery, along with the rest of the remaining breweries, was forced to shut down. Eventually, over the next seventy years, the buildings were sold off and used for various purposes including manufacturing and ware housing. The German character of the area was diminished as most of the German families moved away from the area in order to find jobs after the closing of the breweries.
caption: old brick sidewalk in brewery district
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