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1636 Lincolnway West <br />Historical Context <br />This property is located on the south side of Lincolnway West between North College and the <br />old New York Central Rail Road Line, in South Bend, Indiana. It is described as being the East <br />portion of Ruple's Outlot. <br />The brick building at 1636 Lincolnway West was built in 1905 as brewery and offices for the <br />South Bend Brewing Association. Its design, with different tiers and decreasing heights <br />towards the rear, reflects the process of brewing beer. Height was needed for brewing because <br />the system was based on gravity flow assisted by pumping and hoisting. The horizontal <br />extensions in the rear contained power, heating, refrigeration equipment and loading facilities. <br />The South Bend Brewing Association was founded in 1903 by a group of South Bend saloon <br />keepers primarily of Polish, German and Hungarian descent. They organized in order to <br />manufacture and produce beer. The men began their firm with a capitalization of $100,000.00 <br />made by selling 10,000 shares of stock. By the end of 1904 the association was leasing saloons <br />around the city and by the end of the next year they were in control of ten, many of which were <br />located on the west side of town where they and there fellow immigrants were primarily <br />located. The brewery's main products in the early years were Tiger and Hoosier Beer. The first <br />manager was Jerry Voelkers who was given the post in April of 1904. Voelkers was a German <br />who had previously been involved in the plumbing business. He died in 1911 and was replaced <br />by Thomas Hoban. <br />After the Volstead Act and the restrictions of Prohibition began in 1919, the association <br />changed its charter and began to manufacture ice cream, candy, cereal beverages, soft drinks <br />and malt extracts. They also began distilling denatured alcohol for industrial purposes. In 1922 <br />the firm's name was changed to the South Bend Beverage and Ice Association and George <br />Voedisch, a twenty-five year employee of Muessel Brewery in South Bend, became President <br />and General Manager of the firm. The Voedisch family remained associated with the business <br />until the brewery closed. George Voedisch died in August of 1940. His sons, Hugo (Ike), and <br />John, took control of the company. John became president and his brother became vice- <br />president. Hugo died in 1945. <br />1 <br />