The American Brewing Company Plant, owned by the American Brewing Company, is a historic brewery complex at 431 Harris Avenue in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

that operated between 1892 and 1922. It is a well-preserved example of a state of the art late 19th century brewery building, its original functions still discernible in its layout. It was only used as a brewery until 1922, when it was shut down by

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

; it has served as a warehouse and storage facility for most of the time since. The complex was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2016.

Description and history

The American Brewing Company Plant is located in Providence's Federal Hill neighborhood at the northeast corner of Harris Avenue and Eagle Street. The principal building of the plant is a three-story brick structure with stone trim. Decorative features include round-arched windows set in recessed panels, a rusticated stone stringcourse between the first and second floors, and brick piers with corbelling separating some of the windows at the upper levels. This building was designed by Adam Wagner, a well-known designer of breweries, and was built in 1892. Also on the property are a c. 1900 ice house, a 1911 boiler house, and several modern garages. The order of operations of large-scale beer brewing are still evident in the interior of the building (mostly used now as a warehouse), from fermentation, to storage and settling, to bottling. The brewery was founded in 1892 by James Hanley, an Irish immigrant, and featured state of the art facilities of the period, including the installation of two industrial-scale climate control systems needed to control temperatures for the

lagering Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage ...

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...

. It is the only industrial-scale brewery of the period to survive in the state, and is one of only a few surviving designs of Adam Wagner. The brewery was operated only until 1922, when it closed as a consequence of Prohibition. In 1936, the property was adapted for use as a warehouse and storage facility, in which use it continued until 2005. Lawyer and politician

John F. Collins John Frederick Collins (July 20, 1919 – November 23, 1995) was an American lawyer who served as the mayor of Boston from 1960 to 1968. Collins was a lawyer who served in the Massachusetts Legislature from 1947 to 1955. He and his children cau ...

worked at the brewery as a young man just out of college in the 1890s. Ironically, Collins was responsible for prosecuting Prohibition cases during his time as special assistant to the United States Attorney for Rhode Island from 1921–23. Collins also served as Mayor of Providence 1939—1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:American Brewing Company Plan Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Providence, Rhode Island Brewery buildings in the United States Beer brewing companies based in Rhode Island 1922 disestablishments in Rhode Island 1892 establishments in Rhode Island American companies established in 1892 Food and drink companies established in 1892 American companies disestablished in 1922 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1922

Description and history

See also

References