Fresno Brewing Company

The two-story, brick building located at 100 M Street is the only remaining structure of the Fresno Brewing Company, which was founded in 1900 by Ernest Eilert. Eilert was a German native who previously operated a brewery in Wisconsin before moving to Fresno in 1899; his son and a partner operated the brewery after Eilert's death in 1902. The brewery operated in different capacities until 1955. The remaining building, in Romanesque style, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and formerly served as brewery offices and a warehouse. It dates to 1907 and remains one of the last turn-of-the-century buildings in Fresno that was built entirely of brick; it is the last vestige of the company which once employed about 1,000 workers, and appears to be vacant.

The Fresno Brewing Company was founded in 1900 by Ernest Eilert, a German immigrant who moved to California from Wisconsin in 1899 with his son, William J. Eilert had been brewing beer since 1870 and had also operated a brewery in Wisconsin based on German methods of brewing beer. The Fresno Brewing Company was the first and largest brewery in Fresno, and at its peak, it employed more than 1,000 people. The complex originally occupied some twenty acres and included a six-story building referred to at the time as a skyscraper, as it was one of the tallest buildings in Fresno in 1901. The architect for the brewery was Fred Rautert & Sons (architects and engineers) of Chicago, according to their advertisement in a 1903 book on brewery history.

Though Ernest Eilert died in August 1902, his family continued to operate the brewery; it was run by William J. and by another former Wisconsin brewer, Fred Huntzicker. The company ordered a 20-ton can ice-making tank and distilling apparatus in 1909 from Vilter Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. William J. was company president in 1915, with Delia Eilert as vice-president; C. H. Sayre was the superintendent and brewmaster. The 1918 Sanborn insurance map showed the front portion of the building as offices with storage above; the rest of the building was a bottling works with concrete floors. The company brewed beer until 1919 when Prohibition went into effect. They created non-alcoholic drinks during the years of Prohibition under the name "Eilert Products," but resumed the production of beer following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Fresno Brewing brewed beer until the company was sold in 1942 to Grace Brothers Brewing Company of Santa Rosa. Grace Brothers had also purchased breweries in Los Angeles and become part of Sacramento's Buffalo Brewing Company.

After a bankruptcy, much of the brewery was demolished in 1955. The remaining brick building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The former six-story building dating to 1900 that held the main portion of the brewery formerly stood directly south of the remaining building; it measured 119 by 109 feet, and the brewing took place in its northwest corner. The remaining rectangular, two-story, Romanesque-style brick building dates to 1907 and held brewery offices and a warehouse. The narrow, arched windows on the three bays of the second floor were in pairs and framed in redwood, below a crenelated parapet wall. When it was documented for listing in the early 1980s, a triangular metal shed attached to the rear of the vacant building and an adjacent wooden shed also had been part of the brewery; the metal shed was added around the 1910s and was not considered part of the nominated building's significance. A sign attached to the brick building near the M Street (main) entrance tells of its association with the brewing company. The front porch was made of concrete and continued onto the long sides of the building as covered loading docks, with a tin roof supported by fluted, cast iron columns. Although this building's architect is not known, it appears to be in the style of Eugene Mathewson.

Inside the front doorway was a cashier's window; the entryway led to offices with ceilings and walls of ornate pressed tin. The flooring was black and white tiles of hard rubber. An oak ledger table that had been used by the bookkeepers was attached to the south and east wall. A fireplace in the south wall was later converted to gas power. A walk-in safe was against the center of the east wall, opposite the entrance; the gold and silver painted company name was still legible in the early 1980s. The warehouse included a full basement with a barrel-vaulted ceiling; an Otis elevator in the northwest corner connected to more warehouse area and offices in the second-story space.

Fred Rautert & Son, Architects and Engineers. Advertisement in book by H. S. Rich & Company, One Hundred Years of Brewing... A Supplement to The Western Brewer, 1903. Chicago, IL, H. S. Rich & Company, 1903.

Fresno Brewery Company. A Guide to Historic Architecture in Fresno, California. Accessed September 02, 2017. http://historicfresno.org/nrhp/fresbrew.htm.

Grace, Ben. The Brewery 1933-1946, Grace Brothers Brewing. blog. October 5th, 2010. Accessed May 6th, 2024. http://gracebrosbrewing.com/the-brewery-1933-1946/.

H. S. Rich & Company, One Hundred Years of Brewing... A Supplement to The Western Brewer, 1903. Chicago, IL, H. S. Rich & Company, 1903.

Historic Fresno. Fresno Brewing Company (1907), National Register of Historic Places: Fresno. January 1st, 2010. Accessed May 6th, 2024. https://historicfresno.org/nrhp/fresbrew.htm.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Fresno, Fresno County, California. Volume I. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Co., Inc., 1918.

Supple, Patrick. NRHP nomination of Fresno brewing Company Office and Warehouse, 100 M St., Fresno, CA. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1983.

The Western Brewer staff. New Plants & Improvements. The Western Brewer. Vol. 34 No. 12. December 15th, 1909. 612 - 615.

The Western Brewer staff. Brewery Companies and Their Officers. The Western Brewer. Vol. 39 No. 7. May 1st, 1915. 321 - 322.