Property Record
W16701 Freistadt Rd
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Staats Brewery |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 230521 |
| Location (Address): | W16701 Freistadt Rd |
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| County: | Washington |
| City: | Germantown |
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| Year Built: | 1852 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20152025 |
| Historic Use: | brewery/distillery/winery |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2015: The Staats Brewery, constructed c.1870, is an astylistic utilitarian brewery building with brick masonry walls built into the slope of a hillside on the north side of STH 145. Massing consists of three two-story blocks of varying height and a one-story block extending on the southeast elevation. The northen half of the building has been coated in stucco and these two blocks have flat roofs with simple coping. The remains of the chimney stack extend above the south end of the two-story portion and feature decorative brick bands. The one-story block has a low-pitched gable roof covered in asphalt shingles. The entrance consists of a replacement door in a downsized segmental arch opening on the southwest (front) facade. A basement entrance is located at grade near the north corner of the building, and the surrounding foundation has been coated in concrete. The original window openings, where visible, have segmental arch brick headers, although many have been reconfigured and contain a variety of replacement sash. The brewery is connected to an adjacent gable ell residence by a small gable hyphen at the southeast end of the one-story block. The residence is clad in vinyl replacement siding and has enclosed porches on the southwest and northeast elevations. John Staats established a brewery in South Germantown by 1858, and with the exception of the Prohibition years, the Staats Brewery produced beer continuously under a succession of owners until 1941. Following Staats’ death in 1880, the brewery was operated by A. Hilgendorf in the 1890s and by the early 1910s was known as the Vogl Independent Brewing Co. The facility closed in 1920 and reopened after prohibition as the Milwaukee-Germantown Brewery, which marketed “Old Germantown Lager” and closed in 1941. Historic aerial imagery indicates that the smokestack has been shortened and that the roofline of the two-story portion has been altered. The property appears to be connected to a residence and interior access was not possible at the time of survey. 2025; The Astylistic Utiliarian building of Staats Brewery was constructed in 1852. The building’s massing consists of a series of two- and one-story rectilinear blocks that delineate in size and height as the building extends eastwards until a one-story hyphen connects the brewery to the aluminum/vinyl clad home. The building is built into an embankment and is accessible from the basement and ground floor levels. It has a parged concrete foundation, parged stucco walls with areas of exposed brickwork, and flat roofing. The remaining segment of brickwork has masonry belt coursing, segmental arched inset windows, and a brick smokestack with decorative banding. A variety of single and paired rectangular replacement sashes and casements are additionally present with some infill. |
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| Bibliographic References: | History of Washington and Ozaukee Counties, Wisconsin (Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881), 472. Jerry Apps, Breweries of Wisconsin (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 177. “Germantown Township, South Germantown,” 2”=1 mile, Plat Book of Washington and Ozaukee Counties (Minneapolis: C.M. Foote & Co., 1892), 10. Carl Quickert, ed., Washington County, Wisconsin, Past and Present, Vol. 1 (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912), 132. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |