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NPS Form 10.900-a 0-M United States Department of the Interior National Park Service ------ National -Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page 4 OMB Approval No. 1024-WIS South Bend Brewing Association St. Joseph County IN As with the other local breweries, Prohibition, effected in 1919 by the Volstead Act, forced the South Bend Brewing Association to change its line of manufacture. About this time the Voedisch family's long association with the company began, continuing until the brewery closed. George Voedisch (formerly employed with the Muessel_Brewery) became President and General Manager of the renamed South Bend Beverage and Ice Association in 1922, replacing Thomas Hoban. The firm made non-alcoholic beverages (among them Hoosier Root Beer and Hoosier Sweet Cider), candy,.ice cream, and in the non-food line, denatured alcohol for industrial purposes and, of course,'ice. _When Prohibition ended the company resumed brewing beer for regional sales, producing around fifty thousand barrels yearly. After World War II business declined, -at least in part because of a hefty federal excise tax on each barrel brewed that placed smaller breweries at a disadvantage. While the firm continued its ice manufacturing section, Polar Ice and Fuel; for a few additional years, the brewery closed in November 1950. Various businesses have used the building over the past decades: the White Way Glass Company in the 1950s; the I.W. Lower.Company (paints) in the 1960s;' a Harley-Davidson service and showroom facility in the 1970s and early 1980s. At present a resale shop occupies the storefront, and a glass manufacturer, Indiana Glass Company, uses much of the first floor level along College. The South Bend Brewing Association is representative of a turn -of - the -century industrial building specifically designed for its task, in this case, the brewing of beer. As the former home of a locally -produced, regionally distributed product --an important contributor to the area's economy --the South Bend Brewing Association buildings are.eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of industry.