Austrian-born brewer John V. Petritz moved his saloon and brewery from Walkerville to still-developing Anaconda in 1883. Three years later, he branched into the wholesale liquor business, becoming Anaconda’s sole Pabst Brewing Company distributor. By 1892, he hired contractors to build a one-story brick building on this site. Tietgen’s Cigars, Houck Real Estate, and the Rocky Mountain Telegraph Company were the first tenants. Despite a huge economic downturn known as the Panic of 1893, Petritz engaged architect Herman Kemna to enlarge the building, adding a basement, second story, and detached two-story brick bottling plant. The new façade featured bands of small glass tiles above the storefront windows and elaborate brickwork on the parapet. Petritz’s liquor business and saloon supplanted the original stores, while Justice of the Peace H. H. Mayhew and Mrs. Wormell’s Progressive Art School occupied rooms upstairs. Petritz sold the buildings to Missouri investors for $25,000 in 1899 and moved with his family to Rockford, Illinois. The upstairs rooms were used for lodging, while various drug stores, saloons, clothing stores, and movie theaters occupied the first floor through to the 1930s.
Images
Documents
| Name | Info | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Research files.pdf | pdf / 2.66 MB | Download |