The Beer-Making Machine Johnson, 2012

The Beer-Making Machine Johnson, 2012

Final Draft

Georgetown, Seattle
The Beer-Making Machine
Amber Johnson
12/3/2012

In the heart of the industrial neighborhood of Georgetown, Seattle, sits the dilapidated brick building that once was the great Rainier Brewery. As a former resident and self-proclaimed beer connoisseur, I have frequented the saloons located across the street from the old Rainier Brewery and would often wonder about the role of the brewery on this historic neighborhood. Present day Georgetown is often regarded as containing the artsy, industrial folk with great restaurants and loud music. However, one industry stands out among the rest by having exceptionally great beer, Georgetown Brewery. In the late nineteenth, early twentieth century it was the main alcoholic beverage for the incorporated town of Georgetown as well as the nation.[1] Rainier Brewery wasn’t simply created on a whim; it was the combination of factors that led to the company’s construction and overall success. An influx of a few key German immigrants with capitalist intentions and the brewing tradition in their blood, along with the fertile soil creating a hop grower’s paradise, and the easy access to waterways and railroads are what ultimately allowed for the brewing business in Georgetown to boom during the late 1800’s.

When white European-American settlers moved west of the Mississippi in the 1840’s, hopes of both the agrarian and capitalist vision were high.[2] Ultimately, when John Holgate arrived in 1850 along the banks of the Duwamish River, tall trees, wet meadows and diverse plant life stood before him, giving him and future settlers a way to both farm and profit from the land.[3] However, Holgate did not stay long in the Duwamish River Valley and a man by the name of Luther Collins took over Holgate’s claim while also staking out other claims along the riverside.[4] Joined by other settlers and European immigrants, the valley was renamed Georgetown and was cleared of timber, and river banks were diked, thus transforming the estuary into profitable farmlands. Because the valley had periodic flooding, the soil had frequent inputs of nutrients thus creating fertile soil. This lent to the great success of early farmers who would regularly sell their crops to urban Seattleites.[5] Hops, the main crop used for making beer, grew particularly well in this area due to the fertile soil and European-like climate, allowing for the eventual creation and success of the brewing businesses.

While the soil was productive enough for hop farms, the growth of the brewing companies in Seattle and Georgetown couldn’t have succeeded without the ability to transport the beer locally and nationally. Farmers had used the Duwamish River, along with many interconnected waterways, as a way to transport their crops as far as Kent, WA[6]. However, it was the introduction of the railroad that jumpstarted the capability of transcontinental exporting. During the nineteenth century the creation of the transcontinental railroad was a direct product of the national groupthink.[7] Many people had been thinking about settling the west for either capitalist or agrarian visions; and the development of the railroad provided the ability for transportation of people as well as products across previously unattainable areas.[8] On a sunny May Day in 1874, cannons fired and bells rang as nearly three hundred men started work on the Seattle and Walla Walla transcontinental railroad that would provide increased exportation of goods for the Puget Sound area.[9] The men slashed and burned local plants, leveled the ground and laid the tracks, and in 1879 the project was finished and renamed the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad. By 1900, the lines ran through Georgetown which provided the opportunity for the support of a growing community as well as the creation of new businesses, such as breweries.

Looking at images from 20th century Georgetown, it’s easy to see how people would transport goods. Taken in 1908 by an unknown photographer, figure 2 shows the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad passing through what is present day the South Seattle Industrial District on South Holgate Street and 4th and 6th avenue, about one mile from Georgetown. The landscape in the photo shows the railroad crossing the Duwamish River, highlighting the multiple ways in which one could transfer and export goods. Figure 3 was also taken in 1908 by photographer, Curtis Asahel, and depicts the railroad line that crossed directly in front of the Rainier Brewery Factory. This line supported the transfer of beer beyond regional saloons and allowed for national exportation. Jules Mae Saloon, visible across the street from the Rainier Brewery in the photograph, was established in 1888 and still remains as a local watering hole for Georgetown. The legacy of the local beer industry dominates the buildings, layout and landscape of the neighborhood to this day.

Ultimately, the Duwamish River Valley was a lush and fertile landscape in which farmers cleared the land and were able to successfully grow hops along the river. This factor, in combination with the introduction of the transcontinental Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad in 1879, is what fueled the desire and enabled the creation of three large brewing companies that would eventually become known as the Rainer Brewing Company. Yet, the landscape is not the only contributing factor in this story, Georgetown became the beer-making machine it is today with the help from a few German immigrants who knew how to brew and sell beer.

While they didn’t directly own and operate a brewing company, Julius and Anne Horton played a pivotal role in the distribution of hops to German settlers in the late 19th century. In 1834, baby Julius was born in Chemung County, New York. However, Julius and his family didn’t remain their long and soon relocated to Illinois, where he and his brother Dexter would finish up their educational training.[10] Interested in agricultural pursuits, and with his seven years of experience in the mercantile business, he made the long journey from Illinois to Seattle in 1869 where him and his new wife, Anne would meet up with his brother Dexter Horton[11].

Although they were brothers, Julius and Dexter Horton shared capitalist ambitions, but had different personalities and opposite views on alcohol consumption and distribution. Julius was interested in the brewing business as well as land development, thus when he and his wife bought 160 acres of the previous, Luther Collin’s Claim in what is now present day Georgetown, they decided to clear the land of timber and replace it with a hop growing farm.[12] In the midst of hop growing, Julius and his wife realized that the recent development of the transcontinental Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad created an organized system for land distribution and transfer.[13] The movement westward was already underway in the nineteenth century and with the new railroads in Seattle, settlers would be searching for new land and new ways to make money.[14] Using money and property, Julius platted parcels along the navigable river and railroads to prepare for the movement; which he consequently named Georgetown after his son, Dr. George Horton in June, 1890.[15] Julius’s speculations of movement to the Pacific Northwest were correct in that the fertile soil and railroads were two important factors that fueled the desire and ability for brewers to make the journey and ultimately succeed in creating a profitable brewing business, which would later become Rainier Brewery.

Among the businessmen who traveled westward in pursuit of profiting from brewing ale was Edward Sweeney. A native Californian and of German heritage, Sweeny brought his brewing knowledge to the Seattle area in 1882 where he and his partner William J. Rule began manufacturing steam beer in the Georgetown neighborhood.[16] In 1883, Sweeney and Rule built a small brewery in the heart of Georgetown, where they along with two other German immigrants would combine assets and eventually build and operate what is now known as Rainier Brewery.

One of the German Immigrants that partnered with Edward Sweeney and was vital to the creation of Rainier Brewery was Hans J. Claussen. Born in 1861 and schooled until the age of ten in Holstein, Germany, Claussen accompanied his parents to the United States where they made their way to San Francisco on the newly built transcontinental railroad in order to create a new life for themselves.[17] [18] Interested in the brewing industry Claussen became a bookkeeper for the “Fredericksburg Brewing Company” in 1884 located in San Jose, California.[19] This company would plant the seed of desire for continuing with the brewing business. Once Claussen acquired adequate knowledge of the brewing industry’s inner workings, he ventured via rail and ship to the Seattle area in 1888, where he would join forces with Edward Sweeney. While Claussen and Sweeney had a profitable brewing business, Claussen would soon tire from being held down by the partnership with Sweeney and in May of 1901, he sold his stock and moved on to create his own brewing business in the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle[20]. Although the partnership with Sweeney did not survive, he was integral in the continuation of what would become Rainier Brewery. He brought new steam brewing technology to the brewery which increased their yield.[21] This factor in combination with the ease of access to railroads and waterways helped provide a strong base for the future success of Rainier Brewery.[22] However, Rainier Brewery wasn’t created by these two men alone, another German powerhouse with money and political power had been building his own brewing company, and was interested in expanding.

Enter Andrew Hemrich, a German native with brewing knowledge in his blood as well as a savvy business man.[23] During the nineteenth century, a wave of German brewers immigrated to the United States; among them was Hemrich, who first settled in Montana, where he used his family’s brewing tradition to establish a brewery.[24] After selling his business, he accepted a position as manager superintendent of the Bozeman Brewing Company, in which he would take his experience and knowledge to the Seattle area in 1883 in hopes of founding and perfecting a new brewing business with his friend John Kopp.[25]

Once settled in Seattle, Andrew Hemrich and his friend John Kopp applied their expertise in the brewing industry to creating the Bay View Brewing Company, under the firm name Kopp and Hemrich.[26] They conducted business for two years in South Seattle until Hemrich’s father, John Hemrich, and his brother in-law, Frederick Kirschner, joined the company in which they continued to conduct business as it were before until 1893.[27] The company made sure there was no shortage of choices for Seattleites. They marketed three main beers: the Bayview, the Bohemian, and their best seller, Rainier lager.[28] Eager to accelerate profit growth, the Bay View Brewing Company expanded their brewery by combining with Edward Sweeney’s establishment, forming the “Seattle Malting and Brewing Company” in 1893. After naming Edward Sweeney secretary of the new conglomerate, Hemrich needed more space to meet demand, thus a new brick building, which would be named the Rainier Brewery, was built in the heart of Georgetown.[29] Andrew Hemrich was the last of the three German immigrants to finally construct what is known today as the Rainier Brewery. He took advantage of the newly developed railroad system, interconnected waterways as well as the local hop growing farmers in order to brew and transport his beer across the nation. The brewery also benefitted from beer demand from the new arrival of settlers.

Georgetown was uniquely situated as an outlying community, well connected to Seattle but under its own governance until 1910.[30] This allowed for many advantages to the brewing industry unavailable elsewhere in the greater Seattle area. The brewery’s growth was fed by the emergence of the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad which gave Seattle the title as a major city during the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s.[31] During this time, the population grew from 43,000 to 81,000 in just ten years; among the newcomers were opportunistic businessman, such as Andrew Hemrich, and their unique skills.[32] Georgetown as an independent community was unrestrained by restrictive Seattle laws regarding alcohol production and consumption.[33] Georgetown’s breweries and saloons were popular destinations for both Seattleites and newcomers looking for adventures not found within city limits. This unique arrangement helped fuel the growth of Georgetown while also providing expanding markets for distribution of the all-important Rainier Beer.

The Rainier Brewery building had modern technology, employed three-hundred workers in Georgetown and had forty- eight hour work weeks as opposed to sixty hours required by most other industries at the time.[34] It also had the capacity to brew three-hundred thousand barrels a year and was the largest brewery west of the Mississippi.[35] With the demand high and happy employees, the Rainier Brewery was integral to the community. Yet with prohibition enacted in 1916, Hemrich and his family would be run out of business and the once great Rainier Brewery would become a feed mill until the sales of beer and liquor were legalized.[36] Throughout the 20th century the brewery continued to play a vital role in the region, even giving name to the present day local minor league baseball team. The brewery was sold to a conglomerate in the mid 1990s and finally closed its doors. The building itself is presently a combination of office spaces and is also rented out for parties.[37] Despite being sold, the Rainier brand continues to be served today.

The Seattle Malting and Brewing Company and their premier Rainier Beer, owe its existence to not only the German immigrants who worked hard to build a successful brand in the nineteenth and twentieth century, but also to the settlers who cleared and farmed the landscape. With fertile soils capable of growing hops, and the construction of the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad, the first settlers in the Georgetown area were able to create a pathway for experienced brewers to harness the hops and sell it as beer. Today a myriad of popular beer companies thrive in the immediate vicinity of the Rainier building, including Georgetown Brewing, Emerald City Brewery, Elysian Brewery. Local residents take great pride in their traditions of beer making and business success, and in turn these breweries continue to play a significant role in the community. These companies leverage the same natural advantages that led to the creation of Rainier and have become suppliers throughout the region and beyond. Trains continue to run through the neighborhood, making stops at local business and whisking away exports on the same rail lines used over a century ago. The history of the Rainier Brewery has had a substantial impact on the neighborhood, the community and its future as a beer-making machine.