Harry Mitchell Brewery

Erected in circa 1903 and located on Stevens Street just a block north of Alameda in El Paso, this Romanesque Revival building was remodeled by Gustavus Trost in 1933 at the end of Prohibition.  It was the long time home to Fallstaff Brewing, and currently serves as apartments in El Paso. Although the Trost remodel took place in 1933, it was not the first brewery at that location; Wilhelm Griesser, E.B. Welch and George Pence operated a brewery as early as 1903 at this address, according to texasbreweries dot com. However, the business and building, suffering financial loss, was sold at auction on March 15, 1904 to John Paul Dieter for the sum of $66,000 - $15,000 down and the rest due in six months.

Dieter had the brewery up and running almost immediately. Quoting the 7/15/1904 El Paso Times: "In just five more days El Pasoans who partake of the hop beverage will be given a chance to quench their thirst with some of their own home brew. The El Paso Brewing company, if nothing happens, next week Tuesday will start selling its own beer. Report has it that the company has purchased the Oxford, Idea and the Roof garden saloons, and that they have bought the lease on Dunn's roadhouse, where they will dispense their own brand of beer."

Unfortunately, Dieter passed away only 3 short years later, a victim of cancer. According to the 1907 El Paso City Directory, the operator of the business was now listed as R.W. Long. The brewery operated with some success until the Prohibition closed its doors in 1920.

After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the property and business was purchased by Harry Mitchell, who had arrived in El Paso in 1912. Mitchell had worked as a bartender at the Hotel Paso del Norte.

In 1933, with partner William Keller, Mitchell bought the old Dieter brewery. They hired Trost & Trost to do a complete remodel at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars. They sold their first beer in 1934. Harry Mitchel bought out Keller's interest in the company in 1945, and continued to have success, adding a $400,000 canning plant in 1949. In 1950, the plant was producing 220 bottles and 250 cans of beer per minute.

In 1951, Mitchell sold the property and business to investors Herald Stewart and Ruff & Company from San Antonio, TX. They changed the name from "Harry Mitchell Brewing Co." to "Mitchell Brewing Company". Wildly successful, it was purchased in April 1956 by Falstaff Brewing Corporation of St. Louis as brewery #9. Falstaff finally closed the facility in 1967. The building was then remodeled at a cost of $100,000 by investor C.L. Hill, who leased retail spaces and offices.

In 1984, the building became known as The Brew House, under new owners Richard Price and Charles Newman. It was leased by artists and a number of small businesses. According to the 12/27/1984 El Paso Times, there was a waiting list to get into the building. Although a sign identifies the building as the Brew House today, it appears to be deteriorating, although sound.

Credits:
-- The El Paso Times' "Tales From the Morgue"
-- Texas Breweries (http://www.texasbreweries.com/elpaso.htm)
-- Old Breweries (http://www.oldbreweries.com/)

Text and research provided to Sketchclub.net by Mark Stone. All modern images below were taken by Mark Stone, October 2019.


This picture is from the 1909 "El Paso Photographic History, Volume Two: Parks, Street Scenes and Rio Grande Views", at https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth613661/m1/79/. Note the tower on the north end (left end) and the 5th story over the center 4 bays, that are not present after 1933.

This is from the 1910 booklet entitled "El Paso: The Story of a City" from https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth213964/m1/21/



This image is courtesy the Li.st Archive (https://li.st/chacal/a-collection-my-father-s-black-and-white-medium-format-photographs-updated-5p2TyDiFBYdRKf2aT8bZ0a?fbclid=IwAR3fHyW44aSjYjq3sWLRbnyVOLLptu-shzoUnT0BB7z91JDgYbHBSBCnJIc)


This 1933 image is from the McCracken Collection at the El Paso Public Library, via the North Texas University digital archives (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth613562/). 



Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019

Photograph taken by Mark Stone, October 2019