The Mayer Bachmann Brewery (1851–1881) was the largest of a half-dozen breweries on

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

, before its destruction by fire. After rebuilding, it operated as the Bachmann Brewery and then the Bachmann Bechtel Brewery until 1919. The brewery occupied the block bounded by Forest (now Ditson), Maple (now Lynhurst), Willow, and

Tompkins Avenue Tompkins Avenue is a main artery in northeastern Staten Island New York City. It connects southern Tompkinsville in the north to northern Arrochar in the south, passing through the Fort Wadsworth, Rosebank, Shore Acres, Clifton, and Stapleton ...

s in the village of

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

. Constructed in 1851, it was the first

lager beer 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" ...

factory on Staten Island. Originally named the Clifton Brewery, it was financed in a joint venture between

Antonio Meucci Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci ( , ; 13 April 1808 – 18 October 1889) was an Italian inventor and an associate of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a major political figure in the history of Italy.

and

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

. Comprising a number of brick buildings from three to four stories in height, it bordered railroad tracks between the

Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Trans ...

main line and the former

South Beach Branch The South Beach Branch, also called the East Shore Sub-Division, is an abandoned branch of the Staten Island Railway in New York City, which operated along Staten Island's East Shore from Clifton to Wentworth Avenue. This double-tracked branch ...

. After it became the Bachmann Brewery, SIR built

Bachmann Station Bachmann was a station on the demolished South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway. Constructed in 1886 to serve the employees of Bachmann's Brewery, it had two tracks and two side platforms, and was located east of Tompkins Avenue, between ...

in 1886 with wooden platforms solely for the convenience of brewery employees. The Mayer Bachmann Brewery operated until October 31, 1881, when the factory was destroyed by fire. However, Frederick Bachmann rebuilt the Bachmann Brewery, without his partner Gabriel Mayer. (Mayer got the insurance money and Bachmann got the brewery.) The Bachmann Brewery was in full operation under Frederick Bachmann until his death on January 5, 1905. The Bachmann Brewery continued under this name until 1909 or 1910, when it merged with the Bechtel Brewery to become the Bachmann Bechtel Brewery, which continued until 1919, just before

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 ...

. When the Bachmann Brewery was in its heyday, Frederick Bachmann had associated businesses, including beer gardens and hotels in a resort and convention area. By 1937, the Bachmann train station stood in the shadow of the Chestnut Avenue overpass and the Lynhurst Avenue pedestrian overpass, both part of SIRT's program to eliminate grade crossings. Since the factory was no longer there and the Rosebank station was a mere tenth of a mile away, Bachmann station became redundant. Later that same year, it was abandoned and razed.

References

"Fire on Staten Island Destroys Bachmann's Brewery" (New York Times)Index of the Staten Island Historian 1938–2002nycsubway.org - SIRT: Staten Island Rapid Transit
{{Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority 1851 establishments in New York (state) Defunct brewery companies of the United States Brewery buildings in the United States Industrial buildings and structures in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Staten Island Staten Island Railway