{"nrhp_refnum":"87001263","name":"Best Brewing Company of Chicago Building","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1315--1317 W. Fletcher","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.93865583400003,"lon":-87.66181917199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of nine masonry brewery buildings at 1315-17 West Fletcher, at Lakewood and Fletcher Streets in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. The main plant was built in 1893 to designs by Oscar Beyer of Milwaukee.","why_significant":"It represents the history of a medium-sized Chicago brewery from 1891 to 1937, including survival through Prohibition and adaptation afterward. Best pioneered private-label beer for food store chains and was among the first in the area to sell canned beer. Its architecture is typical of late 19th century Midwestern breweries, and it is the only remaining brewery complex on Chicago's North Side.","narrative":"Best Brewery is a cluster of nine rectangular masonry buildings on Chicago's North Side, built in 1893 after an earlier brewery was torn down. Oscar Beyer of Milwaukee was the architect. The principal buildings are a six-story Brew House with a seven-story grain tower, a Machine House and a Boiler House, all of pale common brick with red face brick pilasters, limestone belt courses and Romanesque arched top-floor windows. A smaller office building from about 1885 was kept. The Hasterlik brothers bought the business in 1891 and ran it for roughly seventy years. During Prohibition the company made root beer, ice and malt syrup to stay open. After repeal it pioneered store-brand beers for grocery chains and was among the first locally to sell beer in cans. Production stopped in 1961. Equipment has been removed inside and some openings closed, yet the brewery's form and details largely remain. It is the last brewery complex on the North Side.","period_of_significance":"1891-1937","architect_builder":"Oscar Beyer, Architect","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Interior equipment has been removed and the remaining spaces are used for storage. Brewing ended in 1961. Some windows and doors were closed up and the chimney stack and some cornices were removed, but the form and details remain.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.45127-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/8924/28892430/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/87001263.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001263/4bb6cba18c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001263/4bb6cba18c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Andrew Jameson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BestBrewingCoChicagoPlant.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrew Jameson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BestBrewingCoChicagoPlant.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892430","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Brewing_Company_of_Chicago_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85746722"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/best-brewing-company-of-chicago-building-87001263/"}