Property Record
145 N PEARL ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | FRANCIS BLESCH BREWERY |
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| Other Name: | FRANCIS BLESCH BREWERY |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 2175 |
| Location (Address): | 145 N PEARL ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Green Bay |
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| Year Built: | 1856 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 198520192021 |
| Historic Use: | brewery |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Limestone |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | Yes |
| Demolished Date: | 1998 |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Broadway--Walnut Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 7/8/1999 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/6/1999 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Demolished for a parking lot. Photo code #3: FCS 10/35, BR-FRV 15/4, 6/4A-6A. The building, as it now stands, is a two story, rectangular block with walls made of ashlar, coursed limestone. The north half of the building has been subsequently sheathed in metal siding, stamped to imitate rock faced coursed stone. Every Sanborn-Perris Fire Insurance map shows that the building was originally a three story building, of which the third story has been subsequently removed. The windows in the south half of the building have all been filled using glass block, concrete block, brick or plywood. The windows all have square arch, heavy limestone lintels and thinner limestone sills. An early, several panel entrance door survives on the main or east facade. The windows visible on the north half of the building appear to be a mixture of original 6/6 light windows and other windows of various sizes. Architectural significance derives from this building's survival as the only commercial building of the 1850s still standing in West Green Bay. Also, this is the only identified brewery building still standing on the west side, and is also the oldest extant masonry walled building in West Green Bay. The Brewery is reported to be the first two story stone building built in Fort Howard, as West Green Bay was then called. Although altered in its details, it is still possible to comprehend the original building and to see how subsequent owners have adopted the building to different usages using the materials of the day. This building was constructed in 1856 by Francis Blesch as the site of his Bay Brewery. According to Kroll's Study of Wisconsin Breweries, the Blesch Brewery was the first and only brewery to operate in historic Fort Howard. Francis Blesch was born in Bergen, Germany, in 1824, and as a youth, learned the brewing and cooper's trades. He emmigrated to t his country in 1849, settling in Green Bay in 1850. He started Bay Brewery shortly thereafter, and this building was part of that operation. It is uncertain from available sources when the Bay Brewery was closed, but it does not appear to have survived Blesch's death in 1879. The Bay Brewery building is significant as the sole remaining structure connected with the early brewing industry in Fort Howard. It is also significant as the oldest known remaining example of early industrial architecture on the west side predating the Civil War. Finally, it is also significant as the only remaining building directly connected with the life of Francis Blesch, as pioneer-German businessman in Fort Howard. HAER INVENTORY (071979): This building was built for Francis Blesch in 1856. It was the first two-story stone structure built in what was then the city of Fort Howard. Blesch was a German Immigrant who came to the United States in 1850 and opened the first commercial brewery in the Geen Bay area. He died in 1879 and the company went out of business. The building measures 30' x 50' and has a flat roof. As indicated in the fire atlas it is apparent that a third story was removed. It is constructed of quarried limestone with supporting hand hewed timbers and a limestone foundation. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A.) Abrahams, Paul Industrial Survey of Borwn County industrial Sites, Historical Industrial Survey. Unpublished manuscript on file, Historic Preservation Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. (B.) Kroll, Wayne L., "Wisconsin Breweries and Their Bottles, 1840-1920" Printed, published in 1972, p. 16. (C.) Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Brown, Kewaunee and Door, Wisconsin, 1895, pp. 160-161. (D.) Jack Rudolph, "City Once Brewed Plenty of Suds," Green Bay Press-Gazette, December 6, 1969, p. 4, col. 3. (E.) Sanborn Insurance Map of Green Bay, 1883, Sanborn Map Co., New York, NY, p. 10. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |