ATLAS

Podcast #9 – Peoria: Whiskey Capital of the World

Posted on 27. Jun, 2009 by ATLAS in Distilling/Brewing, Industry, Peoria

Peoria is famous worldwide for being the home of Caterpillar, Inc., maker of bright yellow tractors and heavy equipment. However, long ago there were once many industries that thrived in the heart of Illinois. Some would like to forget that it was distilleries and breweries that made Peoria a boom town where fortunes were made almost overnight. Peoria once produced more whiskey than any city in history. The whiskey tax that Peoria paid to the federal government was larger than any other district in the United States, ahead of Chicago and Cincinnati.

Many factors contributed to such a large production of alcoholic beverages including Peoria’s ideal location on the Illinois River, good water, an abundance of corn and barley, and excellent transportation facilities. Some believed that the purity of the water was key, but in fact, it was the temperature. The water temperature remained below 50 degrees year round and never varied more than one degree, plus or minus.

The first brewery was established in 1837 on the banks of the river by Andrew Eitle, a native of Germany. It became known as the Peoria Brewery.

The first distillery was built in 1843 by Almiron S. Cole. He could process 200 bushels of grain a day and paid farmers twelve and a half cents a bushel for their corn. He sold out of the business but returned in 1850 with partners who included William Moss, brother of Lydia Moss Bradley who founded Bradley University, and Tobias Bradley, Lydia’s husband. They built the largest distillery outside of Chicago, processing 1600 bushels of corn a day.

From this beginning, Peoria became a center for beer and whiskey. Between 1837 and 1919 there were 24 breweries and 73 distilleries in operation. It was the largest corn-consuming market in the world.

The “boom” years of the 1860s and 1870s would forever change the way people looked at Peoria.

The Industrial Revolution swept America by storm and Peoria was no exception. Located between the Industrial East and agricultural West, Peoria was the ideal location for a boom economy. Finished iron products from the east met grain and lumber from the west and Peoria needed all of these raw materials for brewing and distilling. “Distillery Row” was the name given to the river bank along the Peoria shore.

Year after year, new partnerships and factories changed hands and prospered. Banking, commerce, small businesses and industries also grew. Wines and liquors not produced in Peoria were imported by the barrel and then bottled and labeled and marketed locally. Sometimes a bottler often made a fortune without the trouble of owning a distillery or brew house. Peoria was well on its way to becoming the “Whiskey Capital of the World.”

During the boom years, three of the great breweries of Peoria were established: John Gipps & Company, Lutz and Lincoln (later the Union Brewery) and Huber & Goldbeck’s Old City Brewery (later the Leisy Brewery and then Pabst Brewing Company). For talented immigrants, the opportunity of a lifetime awaited them in Peoria.

John Gipps was one of those talented immigrants. A native of England, the lawyer from Cambridge University came to Illinois on a hunting trip in 1848. He opened his brewery in 1867. He went on to organize the Peoria Public Library and served on the Peoria Board of Trade.

Edward Leisy was born in Keokuk, Iowa, where his father owned a brewery. He and his brothers came to Peoria when the state of Iowa went dry and purchased the Old City Brewery. Edward and his brother Albert built the Orpheum Theater in 1910.

The growing amount of wealth among the distillers and brewers was very beneficial to the city. New buildings, including banks, theaters, and hotels were built. Roads were repaired, railroads built and steamboats docked in Peoria. The population grew rapidly due to the influx of immigrants as Peoria became one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the state outside of Chicago.

The 1860s also brought the outbreak of Civil War. The war was a boon to the economy but the loss of life was staggering. President Abraham Lincoln was determined to stop the war as soon as possible. He determined to do this by making sure the Union Army was well-supplied. Needing funds to do this, Lincoln signed an act which placed a tax on the manufacture of distilled spirits. Peoria was destined for fame becoming known as “Distillery City” for its huge tax payments.

Between 1880 and 1919 Peoria experienced a golden age of prosperity that forever molded the character and appearance of the city and citizens. The fact that this prosperity was based on the production of spirits and beer has been somewhat forgotten.

The boom of the 1870s saw the construction of several distilleries and breweries but none that could compare to the frenzied growth, destruction, and reorganization of the 1880 and 1890s. People arrived from all over the United States and beyond to seek their fortunes in Peoria. By 1896, distilling was the leading industry and the population swelled to 53,000.

In 1881, J.B. Greenhut built the Great Western Distillery which became known as the largest distillery in the world.

It was in this era that the great “Whiskey Barons” emerged. It was an era of no income tax and fortunes of liquid wealth were spent on civic adornment, homes and travel. Beer and whiskey created fortunes for the owners and operators and made them into legendary men of prominence. Most of the massive houses along High Street—once known as “High Wine Avenue” and Moss Avenue owe their existence to whiskey. Who were these whiskey barons?

J.B. Greenhut was the quintessential baron. His Western Distillery earned him a huge fortune and in 1884 he built a grand home at the corner of High Street and Sheridan. It was three stories high with multiple porches, a huge tower, and a glass conservatory. It was built at a cost of $50,000 and was lavishly furnished for lavish entertaining. Guests included President William McKinley in 1899. Greenhut could see his many investments from the top of his home’s tower. It was the closest thing to a castle that Peoria had ever seen.

Greenhut created many lasting monuments in the city of Peoria. The most well-known is the Greenhut memorial known as the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall which was built when the Peoria Civil War veterans needed a meeting place.

Congressman William Hull came to Peoria in 1890 as a government inspector appointed by President William Henry Harrison. Hull could not resist the lure of wealth in Peoria and stayed on to become the manager of the Clarke Brothers Distillery. He made Clarke’s Pure Rye Whiskey world-renowned and later put the Hiram Walker Distillery on the map. He lived his life in the limelight and built the Palace Theater and the Jefferson Hotel.

Matthew Henebery came to Peoria from Ireland in 1849 and became a partner in a wholesale and retail liquor company. By 1853, he was the sole owner and spent the next 50 years active in all aspects of city life in Peoria. The Grand Opera House was once the jewel of the city and Henebery was its first president.

Charles Corning Clarke was born in Peoria in 1856. His father was a good friend of Abraham Lincoln and a distiller. Charles and his brother, Chauncy took over the distillery and Charles perfected the formula used to make Clark’s Pure Rye Whiskey. He was elected mayor in 1888.

Samuel Woolner was born in Hungary and came to Ohio as a peddler. He learned the distillery business there and in 1871 came to Peoria with his brothers. They bought several distilleries and then built the Atlas Brewery. Samuel had many interests in the city of Peoria and built the huge Woolner building downtown.

The park district increased its acreage several times due to the donation of land and money from distillers such as William Darst, Deloss Brown, Jullius Starr, and Jacob Woolner. The offices of the park board were in the Woolner building and the first president of the park board was John Francis, a distiller and cooper.

The creation of whiskey created a large amount of by-product: corn mash. This had to be disposed of somehow and it was found to be a great feed for cattle. A huge stock market industry was created along the riverfront near the distilleries. Many of the cattle were shipped to the slaughterhouses of Chicago but the meat and dairy industry became another booming business in Peoria.

The cattle and dairy business, in turn created the need for ice and another thriving business was born from the alcohol industry. Ice cutters worked the frozen Illinois River in the winter and large ice houses were built for storage.

The amount of grain that passed through the rail yards and barge terminals is hard to imagine. Grain merchants James Monroe Quinn and Edward S. Easton amassed huge fortunes and took their places alongside the whiskey barons in their beautiful homes on High Street.

New immigrants to Peoria found employment opportunities in the breweries and distilleries as well as the many industries that surrounded them: bottle factories, potteries, coal mines, lumberyards, broom factories, and mills, to name a few.

The banking industry also thrived on the success of these immigrants and great banking houses were established. In the early days, banks were leery of brewers and distillers, but in the golden years they were the largest depositors and shareholders. Tobias Bradley, William Gregg, and James McCall were all distillers who were major stockholders in the First National Bank. In 1904, the Commercial-German Bank was established with Samuel Woolner and J.B. Greenhut as major stockholders. These banks built large and impressive buildings with impressive marble lobbies.

Most notable during this time was the Whiskey Trust. The Distillers and Cattlefeeders Trust was one of the most influential commercial concerns in the history of business between 1887 and 1895. It was patterned after the Standard Oil Trust. More than 80 distilleries in the U.S. made up the trust including 12 from Peoria. J.B. Greenhut was elected president of the Trust and it was headquartered in Peoria. The Whiskey Trust was very powerful; they decided whether a distillery would stay open, stop production, or be torn down. Independent distilleries who bucked the trust did not survive.

Greenhut reorganized the trust and renamed it to fight bad press and faltering returns, taking the word Trust out of the name. It was not enough, however. The Trust went into receivership and Greenhut left the company. Soon after, the Distilling and Cattle Feeding Company was declared illegal by the Illinois Supreme Court. This was the end of the strongest partnership in the history of business.

The golden years were not always golden. The distillery business was subject to fires and explosions resulting in loss of life and property. One explosion sent flaming liquid whiskey into the river and set it on fire. Huge amounts of cattle died, trapped in their pens near the river. One explosion at the Corning distillery resulted in enormous loss. Fifteen people died, 3000 head of cattle were burned to death, 130,000 gallons of spirits were destroyed and property damage was estimated at $750,000. The stench from the burned carcasses was so offensive that it was difficult to hire men to bury them.

The breweries and distilleries created huge clouds of smoke that hovered over the city. The smell of brewing and distilling was very unpleasant, particularly so on the hot, humid summer days of the Midwest.

However, it was not the fires and explosions, the labor disputes, crop failures, or even the infamous Whiskey Trust that brought this era to a close. It was 1919 and the 18th Amendment or Prohibition that brought the end of the golden age. Although some of the breweries and distilleries were re-purposed during the 14 years of Prohibition, the repeal found that many of the Whiskey Barons had moved on.

William Hull, however, was able to re-open the Hiram Walker Distillery and the whiskey business once again thrived in Peoria. It reopened in 1934 and peaked in the 1960s with 8.2 million cases of whiskey produced. However, the recession of the 1970s ended whiskey brewing in Peoria forever when Hiram Walker turned out the lights for good in 1982.

Pabst Brewing Company took over the old Leisy Brewery after the repeal and Peoria once again had a thriving brewery. It also fell victim to the recession of the 1970s and closed its doors in 1981.

Peoria has closed the book on its history as the Whiskey Capital of the World. However, come to Peoria and take a look around. Although many of the old theaters, opera houses, and hotels have disappeared, you will see that some of their monuments are still here. Look up and you will see their names on street signs all over the city. Take a stroll down High Street and then on to Moss Avenue. Their homes still stand just as impressive today as they were when they were built.