Dan Fuller, Bellefontaine’s event and volunteer coordinator, said many in St. Louis know of the Anheuser-Busch legacy, but “90 percent of St. Louisans have no concept of how big beer was here,” before Prohibition hit in 1920.

Prohibition proved to be the final nail in the coffin for many of St. Louis’ big beermakers, including Lemp and rival Wainwright Brewing Co.

The Lemp mausoleum sits directly across from the Wainwright tomb, which was built by Ellis Wainwright, the well-known developer behind America’s first skyscraper, the Wainwright Building in downtown St. Louis. Ellis also dabbled in beer and helped found the St. Louis Brewers Association in the 1890s to directly challenge Lemp, along with Anheuser-Busch.

William Lemp, Fuller said, is said to have built his family’s mausoleum where he did with the intention of blocking the Wainwrights’ eternal view of the Mississippi River just to the east.

Regardless of gamesmanship, both tombs are incredibly ornate and help tell the story of that time — one in which brewery giants were competing even to their grave.

“The (Lemp) mausoleum is a family legacy as much as the (Lemp) shield was,” Fuller said. “It was a statement for the family. And if you think theirs was a statement, wait until you see Adolphus’.”