Old Lone Star Brewery
Also known as: See Also:Old Lone Star Brewery (Boundary Increase)
Why it's listed
Built in stages between 1895 and 1904, the Old Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio is a complex of five connected sections ranging from two to five stories, with a tower and an open bridge joining the two highest portions. Brick bearing walls and interior iron members make it fireproof. The design came from E. Jungenfeld and Co. of St. Louis, specialists in brewery architecture who worked on Anheuser-Busch plants, with San Antonio architects Wahrenberger and Beckman as supervising architects. The brewery opened in 1884 and grew into the largest in Texas, with annual capacity above 250,000 barrels, under the direction of Adolphus Busch. A villa-style office building stands on the next block east, and service buildings at the rear once formed a landscaped garden. After Prohibition the plant made a short-lived soft drink and then served as warehouse space. The Witte Museum later selected it for restoration as a cultural center.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the complex is significant for its architecture and for its role in industry. It was designed by the St. Louis firm E. Jungenfeld and Co. with San Antonio's Wahrenberger and Beckman as supervising architects, and it applied the brewing technology of the day. It housed what became the largest brewery in Texas, backed by Adolphus Busch.
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 72001354, listed October 26, 1972. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 200 West Jones Ave., San Antonio |
|---|---|
| County | Bexar County |
| Listed | October 26, 1972 |
| Reference number | 72001354 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1895-1904 |
| Architect / builder | E. Jungenfeld and Co. of St. Louis (designers); Wahrenberger and Beckman of San Antonio (supervising architects) |
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition listed as fair, unaltered, on its original site, and unoccupied. It was used for warehouse and storage purposes after Prohibition, and the Witte Museum chose it for restoration and conversion into a cultural center. |
| Acreage | 2.7 |
| Coordinates | 29.43708, -98.48169 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 72001354.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16896163
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.