Brewerytown Historic District
Why it's listed
Brewerytown is a district of brick brewery buildings, workers' rowhouses and brewers' mansions laid out along 31st Street between Girard and Glenwood Avenues in north Philadelphia. Its brewing industry grew after the Civil War, when German lager brewers moved to the Schuylkill palisades, where cool caves allowed beer to be stored. Ten breweries clustered within a few blocks, including Bergner and Engel, Arnholt and Schaefer, and Poth. Otto Wolf and William Decker designed most of the major buildings, using dark red brick, round-arched openings and corbeled cornices in a German style. The Poth complex, enlarged in 1904 from Wolf's plans, still stands. Brewers' houses on Girard Avenue and company housing on Baltz Street and Bergner and Engel rows show how owners controlled the workforce. Prohibition ended brewing, and the 1922 Acme Markets building replaced part of the Arnholt and Schaefer complex. The district is regarded as an unusually complete record of an industry that shaped Philadelphia's economy and architecture.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district holds the largest surviving cluster of buildings from Philadelphia's brewing boom after the Civil War and is the most complete group of German lager brewery buildings by the leading brewery architects. Its brick buildings share a German architectural character tied to the brewing industry, and the surrounding company housing and brewers' residences reflect how the industry organized land and labor.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 91000096, listed March 1, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by 30th St., Girard Ave., 32nd St. and Glenwood Ave., Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| County | Philadelphia |
| Listed | March 1, 1991 |
| Reference number | 91000096 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1870-1930 |
| Architect / builder | Decker, William; Wolf, Otto; Anschutz, Joseph |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne; Romanesque; Victorian Eclectic |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most brewery buildings survive, many reused as warehouses and storage; the Gambrinus Sanger Krantz hall has been demolished and the 1922 Acme Markets building replaced parts of the Arnholt and Schaefer brewery. |
| Acreage | 34.8 |
| Within district | Fairmount Park |
| Coordinates | 39.97796, -75.18707 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 91000096.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4962698
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.