Littig Brothers/Mengel & Klindt/Eagle Brewery

Littig Brothers/Mengel & Klindt/Eagle Brewery is located in the West End of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.^[1]

History

The beer brewing industry in Davenport got its start after large numbers of German immigrants arrived in Davenport in the 1850s.^[2] They brought both the demand and the knowledge needed for the breweries to develop and succeed in Davenport. Most of the operations in the city were small until after the American Civil War. Five large breweries were functioning in the city in the late 19th century: Mathias Frahm and Son, Koehler and Lange (also known as Arsenal Brewery), Littig Brothers (later Mengel and Klindt, then Eagle Brewery), Julius Lehrkind’s Brewery and Zoeller Brothers. They all grew steadily between 1860 and 1890. They made $52,000 in 1860; $93,000 in 1870; $178,370 in 1880; and $832,700. Their distribution was mainly in the local area of Davenport, Rock Island, Illinois and Moline, Illinois.

In 1894 all the breweries consolidated into a single corporate structure called The Davenport Malting Company. They built a new building in the West End that contained some of the first refrigeration equipment used in the city.^[2] As they built new additions onto the plant they closed the older structures. Production reached a high of 75,000 barrels of beer by 1916, and was the second largest brewery in Iowa.^[2] It closed that year when national Prohibition became law.

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