Now somewhat less of a historic district, the Bozeman Brewery Historic District has recently lost its brewery building, or what was left of it. Built by Julius Lehrkind in 1895 across the street from the still standing bottling plant, the brewery was in operation until the passage of prohibition in Montana in 1919.
In 1925, Julius' grandson Carl built the bottling plant across the street from the brewery, bottling soft drinks. Carl had Fred Willson design the building.
Fred Fielding Willson(1877 – 1956) was an architect who definitely left his mark in Montana. Exhibiting an eclectic style as the result of studying the architecture of Europe, he earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1902 and then spent two years traveling throughout Europe and taking classes in Paris at Ecole des Beaux Arts. From Georgian and Mission Revival to Art Deco and Craftsman, Wilsson was involved with more than 1,050 projects, from elaborate homes, modest bungalows and efficient apartment buildings to all of Bozeman’s older schools (Emerson, Willson (named in his honour), Longfellow, Hawthorne, Irving and the original part of the high school. Willson also had a hand in the Armory, Baxter Hotel, County Courthouse, Pioneer Museum (formerly the jail), Ellen Theatre and several dorms, student union building and fieldhouse on MSU’s campus.
After the bottling plant was closed following the repeal of prohibition in 1932 the business was used as a retail outlet, selling ice, coal and wood. On the west side of the building remains an old painted sign advertising "Pure Ice Co. Coal Wood", the sign partially overwritten by "Coca Cola".
BREWERY HISTORIC DISTRICT
Seventeen-year-old Julius Lehrkind fled compulsory service in the German militia by stowing away on a ship bound for America in 1860. Already having served as a brewmaster's apprentice, Lehrkind easily found employment. Eight years later, a sizable inheritance enabled Julius and his brother, Fred, to establish their own brewery in Davenport, Iowa. When both Fred and his wife died unexpectedly, Julius added their four children to his own six, sold the Iowa brewery, and headed for Montana. High quality water and plentiful barley grown by Dutch settlers near Manhattan brought his large extended family and crew of brewery workers to Bozeman in 1895. Under Julius' direction, the brewery was operating by the end of the year. Julius built his Queen Anne style residence in 1898, and his nephew and son followed suit building their own modest homes adjacent to the family mansion in 1908 and 1912. As brewing technology improved and world lager production tripled, the Bozeman Brewery prospered turning out 40,000 barrels of beer annually and distributing malted barley to breweries statewide. Prohibition, however, curtailed brewing operations in 1919 and was said to have broken Julius' heart. He died several years later. In 1925, grandson Carl Lehrkind opened a bottling plant for soft drink production across the street. The brewery then served as an ice plant and warehouse, and later as a creamery. Despite removal of the malt house and an addition built in 1948, the original function of the main building remains obvious. The brewery, bottling plant, and attendant residences recall the Old World family business traditions Julius Lehrkind carried to Montana and passed to two generations.
From the NRHP plaque at the district