Puerner Buildings/Brewery/Heilemann’s Ice Cream "Fort Community Credit Union"
Introduction
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Breunigs Brewery began here in a small wooden house in 1855. In 1863, Breunig built a large brick complex, 2 and 3 stories high measuring 200' long and 80' wide. In the 1890's, A. Puerner and Son bought the brewery and it became The Jefferson Brewing and Malting factory until 1919. In prohibition the brewery became the Heilemann's Ice Cream plant. The old brewery tunnel still exists under the FCCU building. Through the years, this building has housed many saloons, restaurants, a laundry, a confectionary, movie theater and pool hall.
Backstory and Context
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The corner stores of the Bruenig building, a bar and barber shop, were razed along with the lower floors of the Puerner department store for the Fort Community Credit Union expansion in 2003. The corner store housed many taverns such as the Dickoff Saloon, Bienfang's Bar (40's), Multauf's Bar (50's-60's), Sparky's Bar ( 60's-70's) and the Corner Tap. The second store contained barbershops over the years run by Charles Lane (20's-50's), and Purl Dobson (40's-80's).