More Info →Lauer Brewing Co. Ltd. Factory Scene

Object type:artifact

Provenance: The Lauer family immigrated to the United States in 1822, and in 1826, George Lauer opened a brewery in Reading, PA. George ran the brewery until 1847, when his son Frederick took over and changed the name to Frederick Laurer Brewery. Under Frederick’s control, the brewery grew steadily, eventually opening two more facilities and becoming the third-largest brewery in Pennsylvania. Frederick Lauer was a renowned philanthropist in Reading, opening Lauer’s Park for the public and being involved in many different committees for the city. Frederick was also renowned in the brewing industry and was elected the first president of the United States Brewers’ Association in 1862, where he worked to establish a fair tax system for brewery products. Frederick Lauer was so popular that after his death, the United States Brewers’ Association created a statue of him in Reading in 1885; the first statue in the city. In 1882, Frederick Lauer’s sons Frank and George took over the brewery and changed its name to Lauer Brewing Company. The brewing company closed in 1920 due to prohibition, and Lauer’s Park became a baseball complex for minor league teams; today, it is Lauer’s Park Elementary School. This lithograph on paper of the Lauer Brewing Company’s factory was produced around the turn of the nineteenth century and was likely displayed within a factory building or a saloon.