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Property Location
Property Features
1892 - Two story added.
1905 - plate glass store windows.
1912 - one story added.
R. Siebert & Son was the builder.
This property is comprised six phases of construction; the earliest of which dates to 1853. The main, three-story, brick
block is representative of the Federal style of architecture and features stepped parapet gables as end walls. The first
floor of the original block's primary facade carries a largely intact storefront to the east; however, the western half has
been boarded over. Five, regularly-spaced sash windows occupy the upper two floors. Ornamentation of the building
is limited to the corbeled and denticulated cornice. Subsequent additions to the main block include the following: (1)
a one-story, brick storefront [1871] to the west; (2) a one-and-one-half story, frame malt house and ice house [pre-
1876]; (3) a flat-roof, two-story, brick wing with basement [1892]; (4) a flat-roof, one-story, brick wing without
basement [19121; and (5) a one-story, concrete block unit [1952]; the latter two of which are found along the rear
facade of the malt/ice house wing.15
A brewing establishment was begun at this location by David Gipfel in 1843; however, the main block of the subject
structure was not erected until ten years later. By no later than 1851, David's son Charles took over brewing
operations and named the venture the "Union Brewery." The elder Gipfel passed away on 13 December 1856. By
1872, the business began brewing white beer; Charles retired from active brewing in 1893 and passed away in April
of 1905, at the age of 81. The brewery ceased operations in 1897. Thereafter, the upper two floors of the building
were converted for residential use and the first floor was continually occupied until the 1980s; most recently by Berther
Bros., a restaurant supply company. Currently the structure stands vacant.
The Gipfel Union Brewery, built in 1853, is believed to be the only commercial example of the Federal style of
architecture in the City of Milwaukee. As well, the Gipfel Union Brewery was one of the oldest and longest-lived of
the independent breweries which flourished into the 1890s. Thereafter, the smaller breweries were forced to close
from competition with the likes of Pabst, Schlitz, et. al. Indeed, this portion of Juneau Avenue was historically known
as Brewery Row, for it stretched from Pabst on the west to Schlitz on the east. The structure was HABS-documented
in 1969 and, on 16 July 1985, the building was designated as a city landmark.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
Architecture & History Inventory
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9328 COUNTY HIGHWAY W, NORTHEAST SIDE, .8 MILE SOUTHEAST OF SAND PIT RD
69848
Located in Winchester, Winnebago County
