THE ARCHITECTURE WHICH DEFINES OUR LANDSCAPE IS A TANGIBLE PART OF OUR COLLECTIVE HISTORY. WHEN HISTORIC STRUCTURES ARE DEMOLISHED, A PART OF OURSELVES IS RELEGATED TO MEMORY AND CONDEMNED TO BE FORGOTTEN. IN THE REDISCOVERY OF OUR ABANDONED, OFF-LIMITS, OR OTHERWISE HIDDEN ENVIRONMENTS, I DOCUMENT THEIR EXISTENCE AS WELL AS OUR OWN THROUGH THE PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE ADVENTURES PRESENTED HERE
The Lemp Brewing Company was founded as the Western Brewery by Adam Lemp in 1840 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Adam Lemp initially started out as a grocer but quickly moved into the brewery and saloon business which proved to be more popular. The Western Brewery was originally located on Second Street (between Walnut and Elm) where its annual output was initialy around 100 barrels. Within ten years, the brewery had 6 employees with an output of 4,000 barrels and that number would be more than doubled, to 8,300, another 10 years later [40]. By the time prohibition descended upon the enterprise 80 years after it had first begun, the Lemp Brewing Company had established world-renown and was one of the largest breweries in the world with an annual output which exceeded 500,000 barrels [16]. A major contributing factor to this success was the leadership of the brewery throughout its history who proved to be relentless and innovative in the art of operational logistics as well as in the art of brewing; they had developed an unrivaled global distribution network which enabled them to cement the Lemp reputation far beyond the reach of most competitors. By 1891 [15], all shipments from the brewery to destinations outside of Saint Louis began their journey on Lemp's own Western Cable Railway which was an engineering solution that connected the brewery itself to a rail yard located 2000 feet down a steep hill from the plant. Because the grade was too steep for regular locomotives, the Western Cable Railway utilized a hoist and cable system to control a custom designed "grip car" by which to convey product to the railroads for shipment. This was the vehicle by which the Lemp Brewery propelled itself to global domination; With regular shipping routes established to all corners of the United States, plus: Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Hawaii, Cuba, the Philipines, Australia and Europe, Lemp's annual sales totalled 3.5 Million dollars per year [16,17]. At this time, Lemp reportedly had over 1,200 employees in the Saint Louis area alone. Additional personnel maintained countless satellite offices, usually in the form of shipping depots and ice houses, located in virtually every major city throughout the United States and elsewhere across the world. In 1892, the Western Brewery was officially incorporated as the William J. Lemp Brewing Company with William Sr as president and his son William Jr as vice president. Falstaff, which was introduced in 1899 and quickly became their most popular brew, later earned the title of "first beer to be delivered by airplane" (on Dec 2, 1912) and is said to be the first to be shipped coast-to-coast via refrigerated rail cars. Lemp was indeed counted among, if not the first, "nation-wide" brewery owing to this massive logistics operation. The Lemp Brewing Company, under the leadership of Adam Lemp's son William, had been transformed from a small local brewery/saloon to one of the largest brewers in the United States while also being universally regarded among the top brewers of the day. William J. Lemp Sr. had achieved unimaginable success through good business practices which included investing heavily into brewery improvements and establishing an efficient global distribution network.
As its popularity was soaring and Falstaff was being sold in all corners of the globe in the late 19th century, the now aging brewery was being pushed to its limits in order to keep up with demand and to usher in the best technologcial advancements being introduced at the dawn of a new, modern, century. More efficient methods of brewing greater quantities of beer were being developed in order to stay ahead of the competition as well as to refine the high standards of quality and excellence which Lemp prided itself on. By the late 1870's, artificial refrigeration had rendered underground storage increasingly inconvenient and thus obsolete. Each successive year thereafter seemed to mark new advancements in the brewing arts and members of Lemp's own personnel were on the front lines in this revolution having been highly educated on the subjects as shown by their contributions of numerous technical papers outlining discoveries and innovations which were published by various journals and trade organizations [35]. Their developments literally shaped the state of the brewery that was to come. As the 20th century dawned and the sun rose on the Lemp Brewery on January 1st 1900, its rays illuminated one of the most successful and profitable enterprises in Saint Louis. A bright and seemingly unlimited future shone on the horizon. The time had come for the Lemp Brewery to undergo its second major transformation to refine itself, meet the new century head-on and thereby solidify its hard-earned reputation as one of the most technologically advanced, thoroughly modern breweries in the world.
Out of this era of prosperity and growth arose some of the most prominent, recognizable buildings which still stand today. In rapid succession, beginning in 1901, the Lemp Brewery erected a new world-class Bottling Department, Elevator, Malthouse, Fermenting Department, Power Plant, the tunnels which connect them and the infrastructure which supported them. From 1903 onward, all notable buildings constructed by the Lemp Brewing Company were designed by Guy T. Norton (Architect) with significant contributions by William F. Carthaus (Brewmaster) and William Koedding (Master Mechanic) all of which performed "under the direct supervision" of William J. Lemp, Jr. William Jr having recently taken the reins as president of the brewery following the death of William Sr in 1904 [3]. This was the core group which would shape the course of the brewery for nearly the next two decades. In a similar fashion, almost all of the subsequent construction appears to have been carried out by roughly the same group of companies. For example: the Hartman Bricklaying and Construction Company was evidently involved in virtually every project throughout this period with the only notable exceptions being the elevator and the smoke-stack which were referred to specialists in those particular building methods.
The Lemp Brewery was in its prime and, by all accounts, among the biggest and best in the industry during the early 20th century. There was no end in sight to the overwhelming success and the profits which were pouring in as freely as the beer poured out. But as the 1910's approached the 20's, there was no denying the increasing influence of groups whose aim was the ultimate prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition was subsequently ratified on January 16, 1919 and overnight, the product for which this once state-of-the-art facility was specifically designed to produce was now outlawed, rendering this massive facility along with the massive time, energy and money invested into it, much of it having been freshly completed, all of it now obsolete. In 1920, the rights to the legendary Falstaff beer was sold to Joe Griesedieck who evidently thought that if Lemp wouldn't, then he would try to make something of it once prohibition ended. The Griesedieck Brewery then re-emerged as the Falstaff Brewing Company and that new entity ultimately became itself one of the largest brewers in the United States [38,40]. But back in 1921, after briefly experimenting with a non-alcoholic beverage they called "Cerva", the Lemp Brewery suddenly closed down. The gates were locked and the massive facility was put up for auction where it sold for roughly 1/10 of its actual value to the International Shoe Company. The once great Lemp brewing empire begun by Adam Lemp in 1840, brought to worldwide prominence by his son William and massively expanded by his son William Jr in the early days of the 20th century, was abruptly brought to its demise practically overnight through no fault of its own. All of these combined factors are likely what lead William J. Lemp, Jr into taking his own life in the Lemp mansion shortly after the auction, an act which marked the most unfortunate end to what was arguably the most remarkable pre-prohibition brewing dynasty in the United States.
All sources used in this article are listed at the bottom of the page under the bibliography heading and cited accordingly.
Background
The focus of this article is the Lemp Brewing Company of Saint Louis, Missouri, specficially during the time period from roughly the dawn of the 20th Century right up to its demise in 1921. What follows, therefore, is a visual and descriptive tour of the Lemp brewery during what could be fairly considered its prime. Since that time, there has been a conspicuous lack of surviving historical photos and data by which to visualize the most modern era of the Lemp brewing empire whose buildings remain mostly intact and which are the most recognizable today. This utter lack of documentation is further exacerbated by the fact that most authors seem to skip right past the 20th century altogether and focus instead on the personal dramas such as the deaths/divorce/etc - all of which is gossip material that I couldn't care less about. Even Stephen Walker's excellent book (Lemp The Haunting History) dedicates page after tedious page to scandalous divorce and other personal litigation while only contributing a few sparsely detailed paragraphs to the brewery itself between the death of William Sr in 1904 to its shutting down in 1922. At this time, Lemp was at the height of its success and confidently heading full steam into the future with plans for the massive expansion which became the Lemp brewery complex as we know it today. When the Lemp Brewing Company ceased to exist just a few short years after embarking upon said expansion, there was no guarantee that its own freshly erected brick and stone monuments, which appear to have been built to last forever, wouldn't simply be erased from existence.
For many years, the prevailing belief was that there were no historic photos or documentation from this time to survive beyond the small handful of well-known examples in historic archives (which are included below). This conspicuous historical void of the 20th century era has always been explained away by the fact that various Lemp family member's own personal collections were destroyed upon their deaths. The few photos that have been known to survive were inconveniently spread across a variety of databases spanning the far obscure reaches of the internet, each requiring their own assorted esoteric methods of discovery. The overall lack of historic documentation previously available from this time period had always made it frustratingly difficult to visualize what a fully-operational Lemp Brewery, the same one we'd recognize today, really looked like. Until now, a "complete" historic and visual representation of the Lemp Brewery simply didn't seem to exist, let alone "all in one place", anywhere - neither online nor in-person at the various historical society(ies) or elsewhere for that matter. Having said that, 3 (out of 54) of the below photos of the brewery are courtesy of The Missouri Historical Society (these being among the most well-known photographs to surive to present-day). 11 of the below 54 historic photographs come courtesy of the Museum of Innovation and Science in Schenectady, NY, and these more recent additions to the collective include some of the best and highest quality photos of Lemp known to exist anywhere, graciously provided in stunning detail via the General Electric archives. The remaining bulk of around 40 photographs, which (despite some being rather low quality) I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to the general knowledgebase on the Lemp Brewery. These are the rewards for an unrelenting obsession to uncover every last bit of any hidden/obscure/lesser-known documentation that I could find. I remain hopeful that there are still more out there, somewhere, yet to be discovered. Recognition and gratitude ultimately goes out to the aforementioned organizations along with the various, now defunct, industry publications for originally creating and curating the source material. Thanks to all those stewards of history, we now finally have comprehensive insight into the inner workings of the legendary Lemp Brewing Company during its most successful yet, sadly, final years.
All of the data in the below historical section is either a direct quote or a summary of entirely primary/contemporaneous sources from 100-120 years ago. No modern sources were referenced or paraphrased in the following section. Furthermore, I strive to avoid any conjecture or embellishments beyond such as was used in the original source material. To do otherwise would jeopordize both the integrity of this article as well as my own. Any exceptions or expressions of my own will therefore occur as noted in [brackets]. Please note that all of this information is a highly condensed summary/compilation from numerous publicly available sources and citing every individual data point is a daunting task not on my immediate to-do list. I have included all sources used in the Bibliography section. I don't claim to have found or know everything, so I encourage others to invest their own time and energy into finding sources and discovering what else may still be out there.
After spending countless hours, over many years of obsessive research, this project is now more or less "complete". Note that I am not paid for, and I do not profit in any way, from the considerable time and effort I have put into everything you see here. I am motivated solely out of passion for this subject in particular and I originally engaged in this work primarily for my own personal enjoyment but also to share the knowledge and experiences privately amongst my trusted colleagues and I. Please also note, and appreciate, the complete lack of advertisements on this site. I have been sitting on this trove for years, waiting until I felt it was safe to finally talk about the one location that was just too good to talk about publicly. I consider myself fortunate to have had the privilege to explore and to research the greatest location I have ever known. I am proud and immensely grateful to now present my humble contribution to the collective knowledgebase on this topic; This is my ode to the legendary William J Lemp Brewing Company of Saint Louis, Missouri.
Note that due to the wide variety of obscure sources used, some photographs are, unfortunately, much (much) lower quality than others. Some of these photos are indeed poor quality scans of low dpi newspaper and magazine articles. I have reached out to distant libraries for better copies, scoured every source I could find and photographed rare ephemera to the best of my abilities. Until someone discovers original photographic prints of these images, grainy renditions will have to suffice.
Begin historic photos
The above 1890 photograph features a group of men standing outside the brewery. In front of these gentlemen is an approximated rendering of the brewery at the time. This collage includes the only known photograph of the brewery as it appeared then, at the end of the 19th century and just prior to the major expansions on the horizon which brought with them significant changes to this building. Also notable about this photograph: Two alternate 42-star US Flags (note the different star patterns) which were superseded before they had a chance to ever become official US Flags. Upon the admittance of Idaho into the Union on July 3rd 1890, both 42-star flags missed becoming the new banner of the United States by one whole day. At the time, flags with new star counts were only made official, annually, on July 4th of each year. [We can safely assume then, that this photograph was taken on or near July 4th of 1890, and certainly no later than the time it would have taken for word to spread of the aforementioned newly admitted state which rendered that flag obsolete. The
Historical Society of Missouri dated this photo to 1892, but I don't see any reason to believe these guys would be using two different versions of an outdated (and never "official") US Flag 2 years after it was already obsolete.]
The above photo compilation shows the Lemp Brewery grounds in 1901. This set of photos was taken to highlight the freshly installed paving brick that had just replaced the worn out Missouri granite which was installed about 20 years prior. The new brick was the "Poston block" variety made by the Wabash Clay Company in Veedersburg, Indiana. The bricks were laid in a "first-class" manner on a heavy concrete foundation with a sand cushion and Portland cement used as a filler [7]. Panel 1 shows a Western Cable Railway locomotive in the central courtyard of the brewery in front of the Potomac tunnel. It was in this spot where the cable assist from the Western Cable Railway ended and the locomotives were switched to self-powered engines which could power themselves through the yard [15]. Panel 2 shows a gentleman standing near the stable doors. Panels 3 and 4 are general views of the newly paved sidewalks around the brewery perimeter.
The above panoramic photo of the brewery was taken during the construction of the elevator in 1905 and shows (L-R foreground) the kiln, old malthouse, old stockhouse (the wooden structure), old boiler house, wash house and Western Cable Railway locomotive house. This scene captured the brewery as it existed just prior to construction of the new fermenting and malt houses (along with the rest of the new construction) which began just 2 years later, in 1907. Barely sticking up above the malthouse roof, we can see (L-R background) the brewhouse, old fermenting/stock house, engine house and ice plant. [Here is a detailed map of the brewery as it was arranged when this photo was taken with all buildings labeled. Note the "Liquid Carbonic Company" next to the elevator: Carbonic acid was a byproduct of the brewing process. One pound of liquid C02 is given off by every eight gallons of beer during fermentation. Excess quantities could be sold to saloons, soda fountains, etc. The Lemp Brewery evidently had an agreement with this Chicago firm, headed by Jacob and Charles Baur, to independently operate this Carbonic plant within the brewery complex. This photo is from a postcard in my personal collection.]
Western Cable Railway Engine No 4 (Baldwin Locomotive Works Engine #34453). Prominent local photographer W.C. Persons is credited for this photo of the Engine idling outside the Lemp Elevator with several refrigerated cars in approximately 1912. By this time, around 1,000 of these refrigerated rail cars were in service of the Lemp Brewery throughout the United States. [This photo courtesy Missouri Historical Society.]
The Bottling Department
The new Bottling Department, constructed by Widmann and Walsh in 1901 and continually updated throughout its life, was the pride and centerpiece of the brewery. It was advertised as "The Most Modern Establishment In The World". The Bottling Department was, after all, where Lemp could most clearly and easily display their devotion to modern efficiency in the form of the latest, state-of-the-art, electric-powered machinery. Gone were the loud and inefficient steam engines of the 19th century (although steam was still fully utilized in the power plant where it was used to generate said electricity). Visitors were welcomed to daily tours of the facility which centered around this department in particular, as its automation was seen as a novelty and its cleanliness and purity was heavily advertised.
The bottling department was the point at which this whole carefully refined operation successfully concluded its work. It was a mostly automated process which handled a couple hundred thousand bottles per day, so it was one of the more interesting stops for visitors. Empty bottles were stored in the basement and it was from there that they began their journey through this building. They were carried by elevator to one of nine soaking tanks, after which they were moved to the bottle washers. The next stop was the filling and corking department where they were filled and sealed. The bottles then made their way to the five pastuerizers where each beer was pasteurized in-bottle. Next, they were labeled and then packed for shipping. This building also contained an area called a "Government Cellar" (along with a 300' "Government Tunnel") which was where beer production output numbers were calculated by federal agents for tax purposes. Shortly after completion, in 1902, this department had a daily output of 125,000 bottles per day but within a couple years they were said to be cranking out 300,000 bottles daily [30].
Beyond simply the modern hardware and automated processes on display in this facility, the highest standards were employed in every step of the beer's journey to the bottle. A new pipeline ran directly from the fermenting tanks in the cellars straight to the filling machines in the bottling department. This pipeline was kept at the freezing point the entire time and the beer was never exposed to air or light before being bottled after which point each bottle was pasteurized, ensuring an entirely sanitary operation [36].
The Lemp Brewery's Bottling Department taken sometime between 1901 and 1909. [This photo courtesy
Missouri Historical Society]
This interior view of Lemp's new Bottling Department shows the Alvey-Ferguson conveyor lines moving tons of freshly bottled beer. Lemp shields decorate the wall and the (partial) text to a large sign which hangs above the production floor identifies this facility as "The Most Modern Establishment In The World".
This interior view of Lemp's Bottling Department shows the northwest corner of the building with the other end of the large sign above. Visible here are the 24 Henes & Keller counter-pressure filling machines flanking the Crown Cork Seal "Jumbo Crowner" corking machines. Beyond these, the massive bottle soaking operation. It was on this end of the building where the process started: Empty bottles were brought from the basement by an elevator and placed into the soakers and washed. After being washed, the bottles were filled and capped. Next, they were sent to the pasteurizers. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
Interior of Lemp's Bottling Department showing the bottle washing operation up close.
Interior of Lemp's Bottling Department facing northwest. In the foreground is the bottle labeling department and beyond that are the pasteurizers. This department utilized 17 Ermold labelers, each of which could apply 2,000 labels per hour with just one operator [30]. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
This a photo of the "Government Tunnel" circa 1907. This tunnel connected the "Government Cellar" in the basement of the bottling department to the rest of the brewery. It was originally around 400 feet long and of arched brick construction 6.5' in height and 4.5' wide. It contained the pipes for beer, air, ammonia and electrical conduits. This tunnel was mostly destroyed around 1911 with the construction of the bottling department additions (which consisted of that department's permanent headquarters along with shipping department offices and storage/warehouse space). The foundation of these buildings cut into and was subsequently joined with this tunnel. [Only a small section (about 1/5) of this tunnel now remains.]
The Bottling Department Superintendent's office complete with an assortment of Lemp beers on the table.
Bottling Department Employee Time Clocks
The above photograph shows an electric beer delivery truck (commonly referred to as "power wagon" or "electric wagon" at the time) with about 16 cases of Lemp beer turning NW at the corner of Broadway and Cherokee streets sometime around 1903. This particular truck was manufactured by "Rainier Vehicle Equipment Company", the "Largest builders of electric vehicles in the world" which was located at Broadway and 50th Street in New York. According to Rainier's 1903 catalog, the Lemp Brewery was operating 5 of their trucks. Lemp also utilized a number of trucks made by other companies such the "Electric Vehicle Company" of Hartford, Connecticut. In 1913, the industry journal appropriately named "The Power Wagon" reported that roughly 11% of all company fleets in the country were comprised of electric trucks.
The Power Plant
The new Power Plant was constructed in 1909 at the cost of $250,000 and was rated at 4,000 horsepower. It was constructed by Hartman Bricklaying and Construction Company and is entirely fireproof with a skeleton of Bethlehem steel. It stands 100'x140' wide and 80' high. The chimney was constructed by Alphons Custodis Chimney Construction Company with an interior diameter of 11-12 feet. It is 25 feet square at the base and 250 feet high and extends 40 feet below ground to bedrock. It was said to be the tallest smokestack in Saint Louis at the time [27].
This boiler room was on the second floor of the new power plant and featured this Battery of Laclede Christy Automatic Stokers which fed eight O'Brien heine type water-tube boilers, rated at 500HP each on a basis of 10sqft per HP. Total power output could reach 4,000 horsepower, though they usually only ran at 75% capacity so as to evenly distribute the wear and tear and to maintain usable spares in case of failure. Coal was delivered in hopper bottom cars which entered the building on a trackway that was equipped with scales to weigh the cars before and after unloading. The coal was dumped directly into the crusher in a basement which discharged into a bucket conveyor that ran up the wall on one side, across the bunkers and then back down the other wall. Automatic gate stokers fed coal into the boilers whose water was metered and controlled independently by these boiler feed pumps and compound tank. The coal bunkers had a capacity of 125 tons each. The steam generated by this plant was the power source for a variety of critical machinery, starting with the De La Vergne Refrigerating machines and from them into the electric generators. [NOTE: This photo was originally part of an advertisement with large text going across the whole thing. I painstakingly clone-stamped out all of the text. This is the only historic photo to which any notable modifications have been made.]
This photo shows the Lemp Brewing Company's Engine Room (directly across from the power plant and connected by a utility bridge) around 1905 which contained a gallery of five De La Vergne Refrigerating machines which consisted of three 170 ton and two 220 ton specimens of the "direct expansion" type. These machines provided 3,000,000 cubic ft of cold storage and had a combined capacity of over 1,000 tons of ice per day. Steam pressure from the boilers was fed directly into the horizontal Corliss engines (the square units on the left which received steam via the vertical piping) which powered the De La Vergnes in order to condense the Ammonia which, in turn, provided cooling in the cellars and Fermenting House. The standard De La Vergne nameplate is visible on the engine to the right. The text "Wm. J. Lemp" is the curved line of text along the top-middle of the nameplate. Here is another, slightly different view of the same room, from a very small/low quality photo in a De La Vergne advertisement. [This is the exact same type of De La Vergne refrigerating machine that was used at the Armour Meat Packing Plant. This photo from a postcard in my personal collection.]
Two of the De La Vergne refrigerating machines had their exhaust combined to produce 720HP. That was then fed to the input of this Mixed-Pressure 500KW Curtis Turbo-Generator. Steam pressure rotated the turbine up to 1500 RPM. The integrated GE "three-wire" DC generator provided electrical distribution at 250 and 125 volts. This one unit generated all electricity that was needed for the entire brewery and single-handedly replaced all three 200-kw Corliss engines which were original to the power plant when it was constructed only 4 years prior. A painted Lemp shield is visible on the generator cover.
This photo was taken inside the old Generating Room and shows a pair of 230V 3-wire generators which produced 200KW of electricity at 200RPM. These were the original generators to the 1909 power plant which the Turbo-Generator shown above soon replaced [which means that this photo along with the one below must have been taken between 1909 and 1913. Note the lemp shield in the background: it's painted on the side of a barely visible De La Vergne refrigerating machine. This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
The Lemp Brewery's Electrical Generating/Switching Room shown here was the main control room for electricity in the brewery. From here, an operator could cut or restore power to any department. [This photo also has a barely visible De La Vergne hiding in the background. This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
Back in the Boiler Room, the above photo shows the #2 boiler along with the bank of C02 recorders that monitored them.
This bank of six Precision Instrument Co's automatic C02 recorders were routed in such a way that any one recorder could be connected to any boiler. Although Lemp had eight boilers, they never ran more than 6 at a time and thus only needed these six recorders.
The Ash Room showing bifurcated hopper with ash cars. The cars were moved by a small electric locomotive shown on the right which was designed and built by Wm Koedding, Lemp's master mechanic. Power to the locomotive was supplied via a "double-trolley" pole which contacted overhead supply and return wires suspended from a wooden board fitted with guard strips on both sides. The locomotive was powered by a 2HP electric motor and braked using a worm gear connected to its wheels by chain and sprockets. The starting lever/mechanism had counter-weights so that the locomotive would automatically turn off without someone present to hold it down.
A conveyor carried the ash cars to the top of the boiler house and dumped them into this large storage and weighing hopper which was checked at the end of each 8hr shift and, when full, emptied into cars waiting below to then be disposed of.
This 165hp 2000 RPM Curtis Turbine Driven Centrifugal Pump was connected to one of the water mains. Lemp utilized two of these, each being connected to separate mains so as to minimize the possibility of an outage in the event that one main was shut off in case of fire. There were a variety of valves and controls that could be employed at any point in the plant to produce any pressure needed, up to 100lbs [3,39]. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
This photo shows the old boiler room in the second power plant circa 1905, prior to construction of the new (third) power plant (and boiler room) four years later, in 1909. This gallery of boilers produced 1200 horsepower with a provision to increase to 2,000 HP [36]. [From a postcard in my personal collection.]
The Elevator
The elevator is shown here during construction in 1905. It was designed by Guy T. Norton and was constructed by The Barnett & Record Co., of Minneapolis. When completed, the elevator consisted of 18 fireproof tile tanks 25 foot outside diameter by 92 feet high. The entire area of the site was excavated down to bedrock onto which first class reinforced concrete formed the foundation. This 750,000 bushel elevator was equippped with a scale hopper of 2,000 bushels capacity and three garners of two thousand, one thousand and 500 bushels respectively. The conveyor system was installed by the Reuter-Jones Manufacturing company of Saint Louis and it was designed to handle the barley and malt completely separately to prevent accidental mixing. Each of the elevator legs had a capacity of 3,000 bushels per hour. The conveyor system connected with the malthouse and brewhouse through tunnels which employed a system of elevators and conveyors at each end to get the material to the proper distribution points. All of the machinery was driven by electric motors and was designed such that each system could be operated independently. An emergency switch on the cleaner floor could stop the entire system if needed. The elevator is where the brewing process effectively began, since it was here that barley was stored and initially cleaned before it was conveyed to the malthouse where it began the transformation into beer [3].
This photo shows the freshly completed elevator shortly before an addition; In 1910 another story was added to the tower with the big LEMP text which is still clearly visible at the top of the elevator today. The addition was constructed specifically to house the "Eureka Rich Patent Barley Graders" [which are still up there and which are, to my knowledge, among the only original Lemp Brewing machinery that remains anywhere on-site]. The building to the right was the grain drying house and was built in ~1892 which some time later housed the Liquid Carbonic Company.
Grain distribution at the top of the elevator
Train car unloading barley into conveyors at the elevator
The elevator tunnel conveyed barley and malt in addition to various steam pipes and electrical conduit from the elevator to the malt house. It is 250 feet long, 6'8" high and 8' wide and was built of concrete reinforced by corrugated steel bars. Here is a photo of the tunnel under construction.
Lemp Brewery's New Malt House (the lighter colored buildings on the right, with old kiln house on the left). The new malthouse was designed by Guy T. Norton and constructed by the Hartman Bricklaying and Construction Company out of stone, concrete, brick and iron while the compartment rooms were lined with Tiffany Enameled Brick [3]. Barley made its way from the elevator to the malthouse via conveyors located in the tunnels underground where it was then conveyed through an elevator to the top of the steep house. It was then distributed into the large water filled "steep tanks" shown below.
This photo shows a row of six newly installed 12x12x7' steep tanks in the Malt House. These tanks were made of steel with a 45 degree hopper bottom to which water valves are attached. Water entered the valves at the bottom and overflowed at the top of the tank. An additional series of internal perforated pipes aerated the grain which brought all impurities (dust, chaff and undeveloped grains) to the surface where they were removed by an overflow device. Before the air was used here, it was first sterilized by passing through a series of drums filled with potasium permanganate which "washed" the air by oxidizing it, removing dust, dirt and bacteria [23]. This is a photo of Lemp's sterilization system and this is a photo of their permaganate tanks.
Top of the steep tanks in the Malt House. Here is another view. After being steeped for the specified amount of time, the barley was conveyed to its next destination.
These barley pumps moved the grain and water mixture from the steep tanks at a rate of 1,500 bushels per hour to a centrifugal pump for washing before being distributed elsewhere into various compartments where the water was drained off prior to being sent along back on the conveyor system. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
This photo shows the germinating floor in the malthouse. The two lower floors in the germinating house contained the germinating compartments while the top floor contained the ventilation system along with centrifugal pumps for water and air compressors for aerating the steep tanks. The system employed for germination was the Saladin-Prinz pneumatic system which was automated to provide eight day germination and 72 hours kiln drying. The germinating rooms contained four compartments 86 feet long by 12 feet wide and 4 feet deep with a perforated galvanized steel base 3 feet above the concrete floor with sufficient drainage. On the top of the side walls of each compartment, the malt turning machines traveled on rack bar rails. These machines rotated continuously in opposite directions in order to loosen the growing grains without injuring them. Here, the barley was kept at a constant temperature sufficient to allow it to begin to grow. During this time, the barley kernels release various enzymes such as amylase and peptase along with large amounts of carbon dioxide. These gases were removed and replaced with fresh purified air. After the growing process is completed, the barley is referred to as "green malt". Beneath the front of each compatment, a scraper fed the malt to a conveyor which delivered it to the green malt evelvator on top of the kiln house where it was distributed to the kiln floor. [This is the point at which specific technical details of the brewing and fermenting process get complicated; I have done my best to accurately summarize them but please excuse and/or correct any technical discrepancies herein.]
The "Water Battery" in the Malt House consisted of two variable speed motors (up to 1425 RPM) that powered the 250 GPM centrifugal pumps that washed the barley coming from the steep tanks. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
These motors at the top of the Malt House powered 3 grain elevators plus an air compressor. This set is configured for double duty by being belted to the floor below to relieve the equipment on that floor in case of equipment failure below. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
This is a view of the Mash Tuns which had a pair of 230 Volt 1050 RPM electric motors powering two Tabor pumps with a capacity of 2000 Barrels per hour. The mash tuns were where the green malt from the malthouse mixed with water and boiled with hops to produce wort. Wort is the name given to the fluid at its final stage before it transforms into beer through the process of fermentation. Purified air was passed through the wort while still hot so as to oxidize it. This process rendered the hop resins insoluble and caused certain important changes to the proteins and carbohydrates in the mix. The wort was then cooled to the correct temperature at which to add the yeast. [This photo courtesy miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science.]
The Fermenting Building
The new Fermenting building was designed by Guy T. Norton and constructed in 1907 by Hartmann Bricklaying & Contracting Company who had it completely finished in under 5 months. Its dimensions are 70x107' and partly 6 and partly 7 stories tall, each story being 16' high. It is constructed of stone and red brick with terra cotta trimmings and an entrance of cut stone all furnished by the Winkle Terra Cotta Co., of Saint Louis. The New Union Sand Company furnished all of the cement used in the building which was of the "Red King" variety. The exterior walls rest on reinforced concrete and solid rock foundation ranging in depth from 14 to 32 feet. Concrete was provided by the Gilsonite Construction Company and the corrugated steel bars used to reinforce it were manufactured by the Expanded Metal Bar Company [3].
The Lemp Brewery's New Fermenting Building shown from the back. The fermenting department is where the most important step occurred in the brewing process. Fermentation occurs in wort by adding yeast, an operation referred to as "pitching". At the prescribed moment in this stage, the wort must be suddenly cooled as it approaches the settling tanks. The wort entered the fermenting house through Schneible wort coolers on the 7th floor. The Schneible cooling system was composed of a watter battery and an ammonia battery. The water section was located on the 6th floor in a specially designed room and the ammonia section was located on the floor below. Once the primary fermentation stage was completed, the beer was then sent to the lower storage cellars by means of gravity via copper pipes through a tunnel to the storage tanks where it would then complete the secondary fermentation stage.
This is a view down the aisle inside the new Fermenting building showing a row of fermenting tanks circa 1907. Each of the 6 floors contained 28 fermenting vats with a capacity of 200 barrels each. The vats were made out of select California redwood by the Stecher Cooperage Works of Saint Louis. [These numbers represent a total capacity of 5,600 barrels, or 173,600 gallons (or 1,447,824 lbs) of fermenting beer which, incidentally, would produce around 21,700 lbs of liquid carbonic acid byproduct].
An interesting test was conducted to prove the strength of the floors in the new Fermenting Building. The floors were designed to carry a live and dead load of 600 pounds per square foot and to stand a test of 1,500 pounds per square foot with a deflection of less than 3/8" at the center. The tests were carried out and measured in three different ways to check for accuracy. A total load of over 280,000 pounds was used on two separate tests. The second test was left in place for over 10 days and resulted in a deflection of 10/64" which was only 1/64" greater than the first, shorter, test photographed here. [One detail I particularly like about this photo is the gentleman standing in the wheelbarrow. ]
Lemp Brewery Fermenting Building Interior
This is a view down the aisle inside the underground cellars in 1905, prior to construction of the new Fermenting building. [From a postcard in my personal collection.]
Various Scenes Around The Lemp Brewery in the early 1900's
The office and draughting room of Lemp architect Guy T. Norton.
Lemp Brewery Western Cable Railway Locomotive House Circa 1901 showing the old stock house to the right. The small size of this "Locomotive House", as it was referred to, is explained by the fact that it wasn't actually "locomotives" serviced here but a "grip car" which was a custom-built train car. The grip car was powered by gravity on its downhill trip. It was pulled back uphill by an attached steel cable that ran underground and was connected to a hoist located at the top of the wash house at Potomac street [15].
A loaded beer wagon stands just ouside the Western Cable Railway Locomotive House in 1901. The view to the left would be dominated by the construction of the new Elevator about 4 years later. The Grain Drying house is just visible to the left.
Ten loaded Packard 3-ton gasoline trucks lined up on the road in front of the stables circa ~1913. The 3-ton designation refers to maximum load capacity. They had a maximum speed of 12 miles per hour at 24HP. When new, these trucks cost $3,400 each. At the time this represented just under half of Lemp's motorized fleet of 22 of these trucks [22].
The Lemp Stables, Wagon House and Horse Shed, also referred to as the "Coliseum", built in 1895. The stables accomodated around 200 horses and 100 wagons [1,30]. [From a postcard in my personal collection.]
One of Lemp's Six Horse Power Delivery Wagons outside the Coliseum.
Lemp Stables Interior. [From a postcard in my personal collection.]
THE CAVE
The only Lemp-era historical photo of the cave to exist anywhere that I know of happens to be on one of their postcards. [From a postcard in my personal collection. I will cover the cave in more detail on its own separate page.]
End historic photos
Lemp Brewery - Modern Day
The Lemp Brewery
The Lemp Brewery is, in my opinion, simply the most awesome location that exists anywhere. It is a unique and critical part of Saint Louis, having contributed significantly to the history and growth of this city through the quality and reputation of its product which reflected upon Saint Louis as a hub of industry and innovation to all corners of the world. The Lemp Brewing complex today is a massive ~13 acre campus comprised of magnificent examples of brick and stone architecture whose defining structures retain their commanding presence over the area and which convey the might and sophistication of the world-renowned Lemp Brewing Company whose success they resulted from and contributed further to, but for whom they are now ghostly reminders of a now haunted brewing empire. Below-ground, the foundations reinforce the permanence which the buildings above seem to exude, as the arched stone passageways and expansive cellars resemble castle-like fortifications secured deep into the earth which branch out into a labyrinth of tunnels and multiple levels of basements and sub-basements. Beneath all this and through a series of vaults, a large natural cave complete with its own unique history (and mysteries) lies hidden away in the remote and solitary darkness where it has always been and from which it all began here so long ago.
The Lemp Brewery complex had endured a period of semi-abandonment in the 1980's following the departure of the International Shoe Company. Before it was sold again around 1992, numerous un-sanctioned parties were known to have been held in vacant portions of the sprawling complex. Up until around 2010, adventurous persons could (allegedly) still find their way inside - with varying degrees of difficulty, or lack thereof. Once the haunted house moved in (along with several other notable tenants circa ~2010), however, everything changed. Security upgrades on-site which were afforded by the obvious success of said paranormal attraction included things like night vision cameras, motion sensors, new locks and even new doors altogether. Additionally: the new maintenance guy knows what he is doing, the current tenants do not tolerate shenanigans or suffer fools and the owners themselves have always been notoriously difficult and hostile. I have stories I could tell.. Suffice to say: If you didn't find a way in before, you done missed out because it's too late now. The only way in now is with permission.
In the case of my comrades and I, we were fortunate to have seized the opportunity to explore Lemp* during the final years in which it still something you could actually sneak into. As such, most of the photos below are from 2010 and earlier and this can be verified by certain visible details. The primary exceptions to this rule are various exterior photos because I was/am often prone to shooting exteriors if I happened to be with camera in the neighborhood. The reason for that should be obvious if you've ever seen this place.
Fueled by our own diligent obsession; a carefully executed, long-term, and thoroughly hands-on exploration and documentation of the Lemp Brewery and cave was embarked upon by a select group of very daring and handsome individuals* the results of which are only now seeing the light of day.
*Allegedly.
The first rule of fight club is that you do not talk about fight club
If this place was still even semi-recently explorable, I WOULD NOT BE TALKING ABOUT IT just as I have been not talking about it all this time. I've remained silent for over FIFTEEN YEARS since these expeditions originally occurred and long after it was properly secured around 2010. And in case you were wondering: I have continued to periodically re-asses the security and perimeter defenses in place here and I can confirm that it's only become more secure over the years. I didn't just give up on it after 2010. To this day, I still cycle through phases of denial, anger, depression and acceptance over the fact that Lemp is no longer explorable.
Even if you managed to sneak into some little corner of the site today, you're definitely not going to get into the cave and you won't see anything worthwhile in the process. Your attempts would end in failure at which point you would be forced to acknowledge that I was right and now you have to report back to me so that I may dispense the punishment prescribed below which would elicit your inevitable, delicious, tears of failure. In addition to the above, I've heard from others who stubbornly tried sneaking in after I knew it was already too late who found out the hard way that the police responded quickly and brought dogs. In general, the owners and tenants alike have grown extremely aggressive aganist any sort of shenanigans these days. And for all that, I am thankful because that has helped keep out most of the careless/destructive glory seekers who otherwise would have immediately sold this place out for likes without a second thought.
The photos below are from numerous Lemp expeditions over the course of several years leading up to about 2010. The photos themselves represent not only the intended subject matter, but also the evolution of digital camera technology from its early days of pixellated "potato" quality right up to the current generation of professional "HD" quality cameras. Just counting the times in which I was actively exploring/photographing the site, I made 14 separate expeditions here*. That's not including all the separate trips made for reconaissance, casual sightseeing or simply confessing my love to the brewery in person.
* * * DISCLAIMER * * * WARNING * * *
* * * THE BELOW PHOTOS ARE FROM 2010 AND EARLIER * * *
* * * THIS FACILITY IS NOW COVERED IN CAMERAS, MOTION SENSORS, ALARMS AND LOCKED DOORS * * *
* * * THE BUILDINGS SHOWN HERE HAVE NOT BEEN ACCESSIBLE IN OVER A DECADE * * *
* * * THE CAVE IS NO LONGER ACCESSIBLE WITHOUT PERMISSION * * *
* * * DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GET IN WITHOUT PERMISSION OR I WILL PERSONALLY SLAP YOU IN THE FACE REALLY HARD OR SAY MEAN THINGS TO YOU. UNTIL YOU CRY AND/OR OR WET YOURSELF * * *
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010
Lemp Brewery circa ~ 2010. This is the old kiln building which has since collapsed.
This blog is dedicated to the pursuit of adventure and features urban exploration in Saint Louis, Missouri and beyond.
1. With the exception of historical photos, all of the photographs here are copyrighted and not to be used for any purpose without my consent. The historical imagery is courtesy of the Historical Society or as otherwise noted.
2. "Don't try this at home." I absolutely will not be held responsible for anyone else's stupidity. I do not recommend anyone try visiting any of these locations. Sometimes I am granted access to the things you see here and attempting to follow in my footsteps may get you arrested, hurt or killed.
3. I do not condone or tolerate: vandalism, theft, littering or any other disrespectful activity in any of these locations. I have the utmost respect for the history of these locations and for the history of my city, Saint Louis. "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints."
4. Do not ask me for (or post) specific location information. If identifying information is not provided in the post, there's usually a good reason for that. Any information will be provided either at the time of posting, or updated years later, at my discretion.
5. Any reference to "I/me, we/us" anywhere on this blog is probably just a metaphor. Metaphors are oten employed to simplify complex technical details when storytelling. As such, they can never be considered as admission, nor proof, of guilt; They do not provide sufficient evidence as to who (or what) actually took any of the photos shown here. I/we may or may not actually exist.
