Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Christian Heurich Brewing Company Records

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1104
Creators:
Christian Heurich Brewing Company (Washington, D.C.)
Dates:
1883 - 1913
Languages:
Collection is in
English
. Some materials in
German
.
Physical Description:
2 Cubic feet
7 boxes
Repository:
The collection consists of three unbound volumes of invoices, orders, and receipts from manufacturers and importers of beer-related supplies purchased by Christian Heurich Brewing Company of Washington, D.C., 1883-1913.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection consists of three unbound volumes of invoices, orders, and receipts from manufacturers and importers of beer-related supplies purchased by Christian Heurich Brewing Company of Washington, D.C., 1883-1913. There are some correspondence, credit memoranda, and price lists (Vixen Milling Tools found in Volume 3) as well as an official certificate from the City Weighmaster of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The certificate provides the exact condition and weight of the materials shipped by railroad car.
The collection consists of three volumes: Volume 1, 1883-1903; Volume 2, 1883-1905; and Volume 3, 1909-1913, and is arranged by volume number. Materials within each volume are arranged chronologically. The volume pages are paginated and there is some water and smoke damage.
Some of the manufacturers, importers and other suppliers include but are not limited to D.D. Williamson and Company (chemists); William Zinsser and Company; Charles Zoeller and Company; Eureka Machine Company; American Tap Bush Company; Toledo Busing Company; Genesee Dairy Salt; Sherwin Williams Company; Detroit White Lead Works (paint and varnish); William T. Wood and Company (ice tools); Johns Hopkins Oil Company; Rainier Company (vehicle equipment); The Garlock Packing Company; W.M. Schwenker; National Foundry and Machine Company; Babcock and Wilcox Company (water tube steam boilers); De La Vergne Refrigerating Machine Company; Foster Pump Works; Michigan Lubricator Company; S.B. Bing Sons (hop merchants of Nuremberg, Germany); American Malting Company; Borchert Malting Company; Elsas & Pritz (grain); North Star Malting Company; Link Belt Company; Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works; Smith & Armstrong (iron, nails, steel); B.P. Clapp Ammonia Company; and O.F. Day, Son & Company.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is divided into one series.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
During the first half of the twentieth century, Christian Heurich, Sr. was the most prominent brewer in Washington, DC. He was also regarded as an elder statesman of the American brewing industry as a whole. Born in 1842 in the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, Heurich immigrated to the U.S. in 1866 to start his own brewery. He ultimately succeeded on a scale that only a few of his fellow brewers were able to match. In the early 1940s, at the peak of his success, he was second only to the U.S. federal government in the amount of land he owned in Washington, D.C., and the number of people he employed. He died, in 1945 at the age of 102.
For more information about Christian Heurich in Washington, D.C. see: Benbow, Mark. "Christian Heurich." Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute. (http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=38)

Administration

Author
Alison Oswald.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Exact source and date of acquisition unknown.
Custodial History
Originally collected for the Division of Agriculture and Extractive Industries' reference collections. Transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Work and Industry in 2008.
Processing Information
Processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2012.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Christian Heurich Brewing Company Records, 1883-1913, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

More Information

Bibliography

Bibliography
Benbow, Mark. "Christian Heurich." Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute. Last modified June 19, 2012. http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=38 (last accessed on July 6, 2012)


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Beer Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Breweries Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Order books Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 1880-1910 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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