× 1 of 15 Expand Lemp Brewery as seen on a Compton & Dry map. × 2 of 15 Expand Detail of Isometric Projection of Lemp Brewery, Whipple Special Risk Book, 1876, Missouri History Museum. × 3 of 15 Expand Detail of Groundplan of Lemp Brewery, Whipple Special Risk Book, 1876, Missouri History Museum. × 4 of 15 Expand Whipple Special Risk Book, 1876, Missouri History Museum. × 5 of 15 Expand Photography by Jason Gray Second Basement of Brew House, Photograph by Jason Gray. × 6 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 7 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 8 of 15 Expand Lemp Brewery Interior. Photograph by Jason Gray × 9 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 10 of 15 Expand Tunnel in the Cellars, Photograph by Jason Gray × 11 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 12 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 13 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 14 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray × 15 of 15 Expand Photograph by Jason Gray Prev Next

I moved back to St. Louis in 2006, after being gone for a decade. The city I returned to was radically different from the metropolitan region I had left in 1996. I soon realized, within just a few months after moving back, that there was a whole St. Louis I had never seen, never explored, and never appreciated. As I explored Cherokee Street, the towering red brick buildings of the Lemp Brewery were never far from my camera’s viewfinder. After being back in St. Louis for more than a decade, I realized I needed to finally tackle this giant, mysterious complex and uncover as many secrets as possible.

Back in August of 2017, I investigated the life of Adam Lemp, the founder of the brewing dynasty who died of cirrhosis in 1862, leaving his business to his son William J. Lemp and grandson Charles Brauneck. Within a couple of years, William J. Lemp began construction of the family’s new Cherokee Street location, and by 1875, according to Compton and Dry, the first phase of construction was complete. Buildings would be added up almost to the end of the brewery business at the dawn of Prohibition, but it soon became apparent to me that much of that original complex from 1875 still stands above—and below—ground. Portions of the original brew house and malt house cellars are still extant, as well as the additions to the original brew house and the malt kiln, and these buildings represent some of the oldest brewery structures still standing in St. Louis.

Over the entire month of January, I will report on my discoveries in both primary source documents and on-the-ground investigation of those richly historic buildings. With the generous permission, advice, and encouragement of owners Shashi and Rao Palamand, photographer Jason Gray and I had permission to walk the grounds and explore the buildings of the Lemp Brewery. This summer, I will again return to this topic, investigating the buildings built by William J. Lemp and his sons after 1875 as the business expanded to become one of the largest breweries in the world.

I cannot easily explain the power that the buildings of the Lemp Brewery hold over anyone who has the walked its long corridors or descended deep into its cellars. Jason Gray’s stunning photography, which will accompany these articles, will give readers a never-before-seen view of some of the most famous and hidden corners of the brewery. In fact, I strongly suspect that no one has ever photographed some parts of the brewery as masterfully as Jason has. One also had to consider that many of the photographs were taken in pitch-black darkness, at times over 60 feet below street level, with Jason using a strobe to capture the dark recesses of the brewery. (Readers might be disappointed to learn, however, having spent at least 50 hours in the brewery that we are unable to report any ghost or supernatural phenomena.)

As I wrote back in August of 2017, William J. Lemp’s father, Adam, was almost certainly planning to move his operations to Cherokee Street before he died in 1862. It was then still known as the Western Brewery, and was hemmed in by the density of the levee district on South Second Street. Adam’s will and probate records reveal that he had already purchased the parcels on the south side of Cherokee, opposite the Lemp’s Cave Addition, where the entrance to his lagering cave and former beer garden was located. I suspect he may have even begun construction of lagering cellars, as his will alludes to the ownership of both caves and cellars. As can still be seen in 1875, in Compton and Dry, the location was relatively remote, and there were only a cluster of houses nearby. William Lemp most likely did not live in his father’s country villa, still occupied by his apparently estranged stepmother, so even he was having to arrange for lodgings, choosing to remain at the family’s apartment above their saloon on Second Street.

× Lemp Brewery by pacheco_e on Sketchfab Three-dimensional rendering of the Lemp Brewery Complex by Ernesto Pacheco, Design Visualization Lead, Cannon Design

But the Cherokee Street brewery sat at the corner of Second Carondelet Avenue, the future 13th Street, and the busy traffic passing by certainly made the location prominent. The first building, the brew house, constructed around 1864-1866, will be the first building I investigate next week. While the building is now largely gone, replaced by the 1885 brew house, I will reconstruct the building using old illustrations and three-dimensional views created by Ernesto Pacheco, Design Visualization Lead, Cannon Design. Finally, I will focus on the major repairs and maintenance that the Palamands have invested into the brewery, and how their stewardship has saved several critically important buildings from demolition. I will never look at the Lemp Brewery in the same way again, and I hope you will, too.

Note: The Lemp Brewery complex is private property, and is not accessible without the permission of the owners. The author neither recommends nor condones trespassing on private property. If you are interested in renting space in the Lemp Brewery, please call the Palamands at 314-577-0405.

The author wishes to thank Shashi and Rao Palamand, Lemp Brewery Business Park; Jason Gray, Hours of Idleness; Stephen Walker, David Mullgardt, Peter Crass; Jaime Bourassa and Dennis Northcott, Missouri History Museum Archives; Andrew Weil and Katie Graebe, Landmarks Association of St. Louis; Adele Heagney and Trent Sindelar, St. Louis Public Library; Jennifer Friedman, General Electric; Chris Hunter, Vice-president of Collections and Exhibitions, Museum of Innovation and Science, Schenectady, New York; Stephanie Lucas, Henry Ford Museum.

Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.