An architecturally impressive landmark and gateway to Anaconda’s east side, the Washoe Brewery symbolizes the private enterprise that flourished in this company town. The imposing Italian Renaissance-inspired brewery with its signature corner tower is a bold reminder of an industry important to Anaconda’s residents. It also represents an intriguing, unsolved corporate mystery. In 1904, the upstart manger/vice president of the Anaconda Brewing Company (ABC) suddenly resigned his position to establish a rival brewery. Despite William Haltonhoff’s resignation, he oddly remained ABC’s manager during construction of the $80,000 Washoe Brewery, completed in August of 1905. The ABC purchased the Washoe in December for $81,000 and shut it down. The building was subsequently long unoccupied. After Prohibition in 1933, the Washoe reopened under A. J. Tuchscherer, producing Rocky Mountain Beer until 1955. The brewery’s boardinghouse and bottling works are now separate properties, but the gable-front house and wagon barn remain intact. The brewery itself, little changed over time, is of primary significance to Goosetown’s historic neighborhoods.
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