Lemp Brewery which was originally known as Lemp’s Western Brewery is a 1840s factory that was the biggest brewery plant in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri. The factory which was started by an immigrant from Germany was abandoned and left to decay after years of operations.

The beginning of an Era

In the early 1880s when immigrants were allowed to freely enter the US and establish businesses, Adam Lemp took advantage of the situation and relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. He immediately started a grocery store that would later gain him the popularity and fortune to start up a brewery company. At the early stages of the store’s operations, Lemp’s store was preferred by many as he sold the finest beer in the town.  This later encouraged him and he opened up a mega-brewery company known as Lemp Brewery Company. Within a very short period, the company had made enough profit and it was relocated to a bigger facility. Lemp Brewery Company operated for more than nine decades before it was closed and auctioned off. It was the largest brewery company in St. Louis, Missouri.

The decline of a legend

In 1901, a major misfortune followed the Lemp family that brought with it turbulence in the management of the whole company when the sole founder of the company Adam and Fredrick Lemp died. Fredrick Lemp died in a road accident and three years after that, the father who could not find better ways to grieve committed suicide. They did not only heartbreak the remaining family members but caused a decline in the operation of the business at the brewery.

The company was later taken over by William Lemp who despite the several deaths that occurred in the family managed to keep the business up and running. Years later, Williams’s sister would die a similar death as the father breaking William’s heart who afterward was found dead by self-inflicted wounds. The son took over the family business for a short time before it was closed and auctioned off.

Lemp Brewery Historic Landmark

The buildings together with all their contaminants were declared a historic landmark in 1975. Most of the buildings are relatively in good condition while some have given up and collapsed. All that remains of the once renounced American brewery is history and the brewery complex that is rapidly deteriorating. The factory which is still currently privately owned is closed to the general public. There are no plans of renovating the factory that has been made public. The likelihood of demolition is in the offing for the old factory. The factory just like any other manufacturing plant has several dangerous machines that can result in major injuries or even death. The building has been in the 1800s, has been exposed to several environmental disturbances thus it is unstable.