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Spieth and Krug Brewery - Bozeman, MT

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12T E 497433 N 5058409

A primary contributor to Bozeman's Main Street Historic District, the first Spieth and Krug Brewery was one of the original buildings in the district.

Built in 1882-83, the original brewery was a two story wood framed building which happened to burn down prompting this, its replacement, to be built of brick, not wood. At the time construction in Bozeman was racing along so quickly that bricks became in short supply. One need not look too closely at the building to see that the bricks on the second storey do not match those of the first. This, along with the fact that the second storey was an afterthought, for which bricks had to be purchased after the bricks for the first story, explains why.

The impressive Italianate building remained part of the brewery until 1892, when the brewery business was acquired by Julius Lehrkind. In 1895 he then built a new brewery on North Wallace Avenue and the building was acquired by Daniel Maxey, an entrepreneur who owned coal mines east of Bozeman. Maxey added a one storey addition to the rear of the building at this time.

Spieth and Krug had used the upper floor as a dance hall and social meeting place, this continuing for some years after its purchase by Maxey. Since that time a number of saloons and other businesses have occupied the lower floor, while the upper floor was used less as the years went by. Today the building is home to a "Pita Pit" and "Five on Five", a Brazilian grill, with a third space unoccupied at present.

Spieth is spelled both "Spieth" and "Speith" in the documentation. Given that the name is on the front of the building in the old photo below, we can say that the proper spelling is "Spieth".

Spieth and Krug Brewery

240-246 East Main - 1883,1890 - Speith and Krug Brewery - p
This lofty, two story brick structure stands near the east end of Bozeman's business district. Prominent features of the building are the decorative metal cornice that runs the full length of the building, the balcony between the two doorways and the distinctive arched windows of the second floor. Cast iron columns marked "Bozeman Foundry" are found as dividers in two of the first floor windows.

The Speith & Krug Brewery building was constructed in 1882 as an addition to a complex of buildings that formed the Bozeman Brewery. This building was constructed of locally manufactured brick, milled lumber, and sandstone quarried nearby. As one of the earliest commercial buildings in downtown Bozeman, the Speith & Krug Brewery reflects the airy, verticality of early commercial design in Montana.

Jacob F. Spieth was born in Germany in 1883 and had a farming background. He emigrated to the United States in 1854 and spent several years in farming in the midwest. The lure of gold took him to Pike's Peak, then in 1863 to Montana where he spent two years in Alder Gulch, two years in Confederate Gulch, and some time in other localities before settling in Bozeman and opening a brewery with Charles Krug. Krug was also born in Germany, in 1840, and emigrated to the United States in 1856. He farmed in Missouri until 1864 when he followed the crowds to Virginia City. He engaged in prospecting until 1867 when he moved to Bozeman.

The brewery had changed hands by 1892; the new owners were Henry Hellinger, a former resident of Pennsylvania, and Louis Hanson, who came from Denmark. By 1900, the Bozeman Brewing Company, as the operation was then called, had moved to N. Wallace near the depot and Speith and Krug building had been renamed the Maxey Block. Maxey Hall, on the second floor, continued to meet some of the social needs of the community.
From the NRHP Nomination Form