Lemp Brewery - Brewery Complex

Brewery Complex

The brewery is built upon a complex of natural caves which were once used for the lagering of beer by early German brewers. Underground caves are naturally cool, which was especially attractive to brewers before the advent of refrigeration. Several breweries were built atop these natural caves, which were altered to suit their purposes. Stone arches and brick ceilings prevented water seepage and uneven cave floors were paved with brick. In addition to being used for the storage and lagering of beer, such naturally cool places were sometimes employed as beer gardens, places for entertainment.

The Lemp Brewery consists of 27 buildings on a 13.7-acre (55,000 m2) pie-shaped site bounded by Cherokee Street on the north, Lemp Avenue on the west, and South Broadway on the southeast. The first brewhouse was constructed in 1865. When it was constructed by the Lemp Family, the Lemp Mansion, included an underground tunnel through the natural cave system leading to the Lemp Brewery. The Lemp Family would use this tunnel to go to work.

The Lemp Brewery Complex was purchased by International Shoe Company in 1922 and they occupied the complex until approximately 1980. Although most of the buildings originally constructed by the Lemp Brewing Company remain on the property, International Shoe Company had demolished a few buildings and constructed a new building in the southern corner of the property in approximately 1950. In 1975, Richard D. Pointer purchased the Lemp Brewery and renovated it into a restaurant.

The Lemp Brewery Complex currently consists of 27 buildings that have been semi-occupied by various tenants for light industrial, commercial, and warehousing uses, office space, and artist studios since approximately 1980. The extensive basements under the buildings were also used for several seasons during the 1990s as a Halloween haunted house and were rented out for rave parties. The main building is now abandoned.