Tennessee Brewery
Tennessee Brewery is a brewery and historic place in Memphis, built in 1890 in Romanesque style with thick brick walls, rounded arches, and tall windows. The massive structure covers more than 65,000 square feet and sits on a hilltop overlooking the Mississippi River, with its original industrial form largely preserved.
The original Memphis Brewing Company was founded in 1877 and renamed Tennessee Brewery in 1885, becoming the largest brewery in the southern United States. Production halted during Prohibition, the facility reopened in 1938 with popular Goldcrest beer, then closed permanently in 1954.
The name reflects the state where Memphis is located, marking a source of local pride. The sturdy brick structure with its rounded arches has become a symbol of how the city valued craftsmanship and industrial growth during its most active years.
The building sits at the corner of Butler and Tennessee streets on a hilltop, naturally offering a good viewing point. You can walk around the exterior and view its distinctive architecture easily from downtown Memphis.
The building gained a reputation as one of Memphis' supposedly haunted places during its long years of abandonment after 1954. In 2014, it was revived through a six-week festival featuring live music and food, demonstrating the old brewery still had life in it.
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