February 2026.
Louis Hoster’s brewery was the largest Columbus brewery in what is now known as the Brewery District. Of its two competitors, it has the highest quantity of factory buildings remaining today, though several have been demolished over the years. Most of the existing buildings date to the 1890s due to constant expansion efforts by the brewery.
The L. Hoster Brewing Company is located at 477 South Front Street in the Brewery District neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The complex is bordered by Fulton Street and the I-70 trench to the north, Liberty Street and the site of the Born Capital Brewery to the south, Front Street to the east, and 2nd Street to the west.
History
Louis Hoster, the founder of the brewery that bears his name, was a German immigrant that arrived in the United States in 1831. He was impressed by an Independence Day celebration in Columbus in 1833, but continued to wander across the country, until another German suggested that Columbus would be a better location for business than Canton, where Hoster was headed at the time. He was convinced and decided to move to Columbus instead.
Hoster began working at the Converse Brewery in 1835, but a year later he established L. Hoster & Company with partner George Herancourt. Hoster’s brewery opened for business on May 6, 1836. He named the brewery complex the “City Brewery,” but the company’s name was more widely known, and his beer was branded as “Hoster’s.” The original location was off of a small stream that flowed into the Scioto River, which was around the location of Brewmaster’s Gate today. At first, Hoster brewed 300 barrels a year, and he ran the entire business by himself.
Engraving of the brewery c. 1890s. (NRHP listing)
Hoster and his business partner Herancourt married sisters Philippine and Louise Ambos in 1838 and 1840, respectively, and their dowries allowed Hoster to expand the brewery. In 1839, they purchased the land north of Brewmaster’s Gate, where the current Beer Production Block stands, and in 1840 the first expansion to the brewery was completed. Louise died giving birth to a daughter in 1842, and Herancourt ultimately placed half of his shares in a trust for his daughter and sold the other half to Jacob Silbernagel, another German immigrant who had brewing experience.
Hoster continued to expand his brewery by purchasing more land in 1848 and 1856, along with a site on the southeast corner of Livingston Street and Front Street. By 1850, the brewery had eight employees, horse-drawn equipment, and made 16,000 barrels of beer a year. Hoster began brewing lager in 1856, which was a distinctive German beer that became very popular with the growing German population in Columbus. In 1858, Silbernagel departed to establish the Capital City Brewery with Conrad Born. Hoster’s son, Louis P. Hoster, then joined him in the business in 1860, and the brewery was renamed to Hoster, Son, & Company. Former partner George Herancourt’s daughter (Hoster’s niece) acquired her shares left to her by her father, and in 1864 she sold them to Hoster, while his sons Louis P. and George purchased half of the brewery, once again renaming it to Louis Hoster & Sons. When Hoster’s sons acquired part of the company, it was valued at $36,000, from $6,600 in 1843.
As the 1870s arrived, so did new brewing technology. Hoster’s brewery invested in new machinery and buildings, leading to great expansion efforts at this time. Louis Hoster’s son George attended the 1876 Centennial Exposition and became interested in bottling technology, building the company’s bottling plant across Front Street soon after. It was George’s private investment at first, but it became part of the larger brewery in 1888.
In October 1885, the brewery was incorporated with $500,000 in capital stock, as its capacity was growing rapidly. It was the largest brewery in Columbus by a wide margin and one of the largest in Ohio. Louis Hoster’s family ran most of the daily operations by that time, but he was still the president and worked at the brewery daily.
1893 view of the complex from Front Street. These buildings have since been demolished. (Wikimedia)
As the 1890s arrived, it was a very successful period for the brewery. Louis Hoster died in 1892, and he was succeeded as president by his son George Hoster. Louis P. Hoster then became vice president, and cousin Carl Hoster was elevated to treasurer. At the same time, Louis’ grandsons and George’s sons Carl J. and Louis Ph. also held management roles. At the time of Louis Hoster’s death in 1892, the brewery had a capacity of 100,000 barrels a year, almost doubling to 175,000 in 1896, and in 1901 it reached over 300,000. In 1897, Hoster’s brewery was the third-largest in the entire state of Ohio. At the same time, the brewery was being constantly expanded with new buildings and additions, though it was the last major period of construction on the complex. Hoster’s beer was delivered to 500 local bars, as well as the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia.
With the beginning of the new century in 1900, smaller breweries were beginning to consolidate into larger conglomerates, as railroads and steel companies were. The Cleveland & Sandusky Brewing Company, which consisted of 14 breweries on Lake Erie consolidated in 1898, took an interest in the three major Columbus breweries (Hoster, Born, and Schlee). In 1904, all three had agreed, and the owners ended up making far more than their assets were worth and saved on advertising, raw materials, and delivery. Hoster and Born owned much of the new company’s stock, while Schlee sold his shares. This new company was established as the Hoster-Columbus Associated Breweries Company on December 30, 1904. In practice, each company’s signature beer was still produced at their own plant. By this time, possibly a result of the windfall made by Hoster’s children, they had moved to the east side of Columbus (likely Olde Towne East, a very fashionable neighborhood at the time).
Stylized view of the complex. (NRHP listing)
However, the good times of the 1890s and 1900s had begun to fade by the 1910s. The newly associated breweries began to face competition from outside Columbus, along with newly established Columbus breweries such as Franklin Brewing Company (1904), August Wagner’s Gambrinus Brewing Company (1906), Washington Brewing Company (1907), and Ohio Brewing Company (1910). As the Hoster Brewery began to have a regional presence, outside breweries began to send their products to Columbus. This led to the consolidated breweries to not achieve their projected revenue, and they struggled to reach their financial obligations. Coupled with the rising temperance movement in Ohio, with 57 of Ohio’s 88 counties becoming “dry” in 1908, the company had to close the Born brewery and Schlee bottling plant and focus on advertising and expansion. In 1914, West Virginia closed all breweries and bars across the entire state, which was one of Hoster’s largest markets. This led to a dramatic decrease in sales, from $450,000 in 1913 (one of the brewery’s best years) to $150,000 in 1914.
Also in 1914, the individual breweries’ brands were discontinued, and the Gold Top brand was introduced and produced at the three remaining plants. Nicholas Schlee died that year, the last of the German immigrant founders, which was another blow to the company. Additionally, the associated breweries had been operating in a deficit since they were combined, and they were placed in receivership at the end of the year. Schlee’s brewery was closed, and Hoster’s, the last holdout, was operated as the Hoster-Columbus company beginning in 1915.
A view of the brewery after the 1965 demolition work. (NRHP listing)
Hoster-Columbus introduced the Bruin near-beer drink in 1917 in a last-ditch attempt to stay afloat, as Ohio and other states continued to restrict the sale and production of alcohol. However, with the 18th Amendment being ratified in Ohio in 1918 and taking effect in 1919, the Hoster-Columbus Company stopped production (as did most other Columbus breweries) and sold its entire property by 1920. The only survivor was Wagner’s brewery, which made soft drinks and resumed beer production after Prohibition, and it operated until 1974.
Immediately after Hoster’s closure, the buildings were used for manufacturing and storage. According to the 1955-1962 Sanborn map, renters included Edwards Transfer & Storage Co., Frankenberg Bros. Paper Boxes, and Shields Pattern Works. Others were converted to office space in the 1980s and 1990s. The brewery complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Neon Hoster sign I saw in some overpriced Italian Village bar.
The former brewery is currently being renovated to become the “Front & Fulton” mixed-use complex. Plans began in 2018 and tax credits were awarded, but work has been very sporadic since. The boarded-up windows have been replaced and some restoration work has been done, such as cleaning the brick facades, but there didn’t seem to be much going on when I visited. Most sources say that the completion date is expected to be 2027, pushed from 2021 and later 2023.
The NRHP listing states George H. Maetzel and Emile Glaser were the two architects associated with the brewery complex, however, it is unknown which buildings they each designed. (Maetzel died in 1891, so the buildings erected after that date are likely to be Glaser’s work.) They are all of a similar character with brick exteriors, stone foundations, and a wood, steel, or concrete structure.
Photos
(NRHP listing)
Above is a handy bird’s-eye map of the entire Hoster brewing complex. This post covers every building on the west side of Front Street. The stables have their own post, while the bottling plant and Brewmaster’s Gate (the noncontributing building) are covered in a sequel. Feel free to use this as a reference while you continue reading.
Beer Production Block - Buildings A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H
A closer look at what remains of the Beer Production Block today. The “Wasserstrom Addition” has since been demolished. (NRHP listing)
This large building, essentially an entire city block bounded by Fulton Street to the north, Brewmaster’s Gate to the south, Front Street to the east, and Ludlow Street and the “Support Block” to the west, was home to Hoster’s brewing operations. Not only do the additions date to different times, they also have different floor heights.
Building A - Filling Rooms
The Filling Rooms are the one-story portion at middle.
This building dates to c. 1890-1891. The basement and ground floor (below grade) once housed the brewery’s filling rooms, while the area above ground had a lobby with wood trim and an inglenook and was one of the public entrances. Note that the western (right) portion in the above image is windowless--this is because a wash house and rug weaving building extended northwards from that area, which was later demolished for I-70 and the extension of Fulton Street. The eastern portion would have been inside a courtyard formed by the demolished sections, hence its more decorative expression with brick detailing and a circular window.
Viewed from Ludlow Street, it’s very obvious that half the building has had its face chopped off.
Building B - Grain Dryer Room
Immediately east of the Filling Rooms, also facing Fulton Street, is the three-story Grain Dryer Room. It was built between 1891 and 1899, as it does not appear on the 1891 Sanborn map but is first shown on the 1899 Baist map. The first floor is double-height and has been modified to serve as a loading dock. The windows appear to be modern replacements, though the NRHP listing wrote that they were bricked up with the original wood frames intact.
As is the case with its neighbor, this section was decorated more due to its public visibility. The vaulted windows and brick corbels add a little spice to the Victorian factory style of construction.
A and B from Fulton Street, with C and H in the background:
Building C - Beer Storage
Beer Storage is at middle. The three-story section with arched windows is Building B, and at left is Building D.
Beer Storage would have been sandwiched into the original factory buildings along Front Street, but it has been exposed with their demolition and the more recent wrecking of the 1960s Wasserstrom building. It seems to have first been built at a height of two stories before 1887, as the Sanborn map from that year labels it “Fermenting.” The 1891 Sanborn shows a three-story building that was used as both storage and fermenting cellars. Between 1891 and 1901, it attained its current four-story height (though there are two floors below grade), as well as the freight elevator tower between it and building D.
Most of the floors here are double-height, which explains the tall height for just a four-story building. The windows are very small and punched with segmentally arched lintels, though the top floor has standard double-hung windows. The building has a more restrained industrial appearance.
Building C is very much stuck between Buildings B and D:
Building D - Malt House & Granary
Building D is at middle. Building C is to the north, while the windowless portion is Building E.
The bulk of Building D was the brewery’s malt house, while the taller portion with a gabled roof was the granary. According to the 1887 Sanborn map, a two-story building with the same function was on the site, which this building replaced as indicated by the 1891 map. The malt house was used to soak grain in water to create malt, necessary for brewing beer, and the granary had eight iron steep tubs and eight hoppers to store the grain. The first two floors were renovated for warehouse use by the Wasserstrom Company in the 1960s.
As is the case with Building C, the Malt House & Granary are simple industrial buildings, though they have larger window openings than their neighbor.
Building E - Malt Kiln
The Malt Kiln is the southernmost portion of the Beer Production Block, bordered by Building D to the north.
The Malt Kiln was built around 1890, along with its neighbor to the north, Building D. In 1887, there were storage buildings, a wash house, and a smaller kiln building on the site. The 1891 Sanborn map indicates it had a furnace and “malt kiln drying rooms.” The eastern portion of the building, which faces Front Street, was the freight elevator and equipment room. The western portion with a hipped roof once had a tall smokestack, which was removed by the 1980s or 1990s. The ground floor apparently still contains remnants of the kiln, namely two brick walls with openings into what once was the kiln’s interior.
Masonry anchors and little punched windows:
Here is a view of every building along Front Street:
From right: Building B, C, D, and E at left.
Building G - Wash House
The Wash House was built c. 1892, as it appears on the 1891 Sanborn map as “Wash Ho. for Shipping - To Be Built.” The 1901 Sanborn labels it as “Barrel Wash House No. 4” and “Cooper Shop.” (Coopers are barrel-makers.) These labels indicate it was used to wash out used beer barrels, make new ones, and as a loading dock. The building was painted gray and housed a winery until after 2018, when it was restored to its present appearance.
From the parking lot in front of the Racking & Wash House, with Buildings E and H in the background:
Looking down the row of vaulted windows:
Original wooden doors facing Ludlow Street:
South facade, with the gabled roof profile:
Building H - Fermenting Room & Storage Cellars
Due to this section’s wide facade, I had trouble getting it in its entirety. It dates to c. 1890, as it did not appear on the 1887 Sanborn but was first seen on the 1891 map. It has three double-height floors and very unevenly placed and sized windows.
Stone foundation and entrance doors with a massive I-beam lintel:
I got this view from further away, with the Wash House in frame and Franklin County Courthouse in the background:
Wasserstrom Addition [demolished]
2013 view of the Wasserstrom Addition. (Wikimedia)
In 1965, the original portion of the brewery that lined Front Street was demolished by (who else but) S. G. Loewendick & Sons, and it was replaced by a low Modern building designed for the Wasserstrom Company. The NRHP listing states that it lacks distinctive qualities of the style, as most of the finishes are laminate meant to mimic terrazzo and marble. It was demolished between 2019 and 2020. Wasserstrom relocated to a building off I-71 in Clintonville before 2011.
After the Beer Production Block, the NRHP listing groups the remaining buildings into smaller blocks. I’m going to re-format them into two larger blocks for ease of readability.
Support Block - Buildings I, J, K, L, M, N
Ignore the annotations, these may date to an earlier draft where these buildings were not listed. They are part of the present listing. (NRHP listing)
What I’m referring to as the “Support Block” is a grouping of buildings of a similar size to the Beer Production Block. Their function is unrelated to the actual brewing of beer, rather, they housed auxiliary functions such as ice making, blacksmithing, etc. This block is immediately west of the Beer Production Block across Ludlow Street and bordered by Fulton Street and the I-70 trench to the north, a parking lot to the south, Ludlow Street and the Beer Production Block to the east, and 2nd Street to the west.
Building I - Racking & Wash House
Aside from the Ice Machines Building, this is probably my second-favorite building in the complex. It replaced a smaller stables (which were then moved to their current site) and was intended to be an addition to the Stock House. I got probably the most photos of this one due to its distinctive and decorated architecture.
The base is either missing its doors or they’re covered up, but this was likely a prominent entrance at one time:
Detail of the rectangular window bays:
The top has some of the most distinctive architecture across the entire complex:
The central bay features a large vault, possibly indicating Richardsonian Romanesque influence. Small stone rosettes are centered in the spandrels. A heavily worn relief, possibly depicting the Hosters’ “H” symbol, is set into the parapet.
The eastern tower, with a turret on the corner:
Southeast corner:
The east facade was tough to capture with its proximity to the Wash House. I had to angle it a lot:
The original pipe connection is pretty cool, too. Most of this more industrial stuff was removed over time.
Door with massive iron lintel:
Original wooden doors facing Ludlow Street:
Looking up at the northeast corner above:
I think these windows are original. The masonry is pretty cool, too.
Moving back to the southwest corner:
A better look at the western facade from farther away, which is identical to the eastern facade:
Detail of the upper floor--note the masonry anchors and pulley:
Building J - Stock House
Historic photo of the stables under construction, with the Stock House in the background. (NRHP listing)
The Stock House was built c. 1895 as the original southern portion of the Support Block. It seems to have had a warehouse-related function, as indicated by the spare window openings across the facade. Along with the Wash House, it was used by the Frankenburg Brothers Paper Box Company until the 1960s.
The first two floors, which were the original portion of the building before its upward expansion:
Unevenly placed, small windows above:
Window detail:
These have a prominent brick hood mold and stone still. I don’t think the windows are original, but they have the four-pane form that is common in historic buildings.
Western facade--note the very faded relief above the parapet reading “STOCK HOUSE”:
Building K - Ice Plant
The Ice Plant was built c. 1895 and replaced a series of houses that formerly stood on the site. According to the 1901 Sanborn map, it was formerly the “Tank Room.” Part of the original building has been demolished, and the current western facade dates to 1999.
Detail of the stone relief panel, brickwork, and worn stone coping:
The two bays on either side have similar brickwork to the Ice Machines Building at a smaller scale:
Looking back at buildings K and L:
The western facades of both:
Building L - Ice Machines Building
One of the most decorated and probably my favorite building in the brewery complex, the ornate Ice Machines Building was likewise built around 1895. In 1901, it housed the dynamo and refrigeration machinery. The interior walls are white ceramic brick, and the building retains many historic features such as steel beams and columns and the original pulleys.
After the brewery closed in the 1920s, the Ice Machines Building was used by Shields Pattern Works until the early 1960s. A Postmodern addition to the rear was completed in 1999, which replaced the demolished boiler house, and added a new lobby to the building.
Looking up at the three skinny bays:
Detail of the lower relief, which has a fancy brick border:
This building is very ornate compared to the rest of the complex. There are rich brickwork borders just below the roofline, and each corner is crowned by a triangular pediment. Stone accents also provide a hint of contrast.
One of the two shorter bays, which have identical vaulted windows and brickwork but lack the relief panels:
These brick battlements are similar to the vernacular brickwork of Columbus rowhouses, but they are more elaborate.
From the south side:
Looking down Ludlow Street from the south end, with Buildings G, H, I, J, K, and L in view:
Building M - Blacksmith & Oil House
This small building likely once made tools for maintenance use on the brewery. It originally extended further north to the chimney, but it was partially demolished in 1999 and the northern wall was reconstructed. The two-story metal structure on top is an addition dating to 2019, which is connected to the Ice Machines Building. A parking deck and ramp in the rear also date to the same time.
Buildings L and M:
Building N - Chimney
Once standing 204 feet tall, the brewery’s chimney was built around 1895, in tandem with much of the other buildings in this block. It has been severed from the now-demolished boiler house and connection to Building M. The ornate base remains, with its decorative brickwork and masonry, and a modern artwork has replaced the chimney itself.
This article got very long, so I’m going to cover the bottling plant, its annex, and Brewmaster’s Gate in a sequel. I’m posting the stables/Worly Building as a separate article.
Sources:
https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/761c7462-cdc6-4801-a3d4-33757fb1af09
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Hoster_Brewing_Company
https://columbusunderground.com/lets-make-the-brewery-district-great-again-we1/
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