HIGH POINT CONFIDENTIAL: Trouble brewing --High Point's future beer facility fizzled in 1935
Dec. 10—HIGH POINT — In hindsight, maybe the Home Furnishings Capital of the World sounds better than the Beer Capital of the World anyway.
Not that we ever had a legitimate shot at surpassing Milwaukee in beer production — and/or beer consumption — but there was a time when High Point looked as if it might be a major player in the brewing industry.
If you've never heard this story, no need to apologize — most High Pointers, even the old-timers — haven't heard it, either, for a couple of reasons. First of all, the city's attempted foray into the beer world took place nearly 90 years ago. And second, it flopped before it ever got off the ground.
The year was 1935, and the announcement was published in The High Point Enterprise on Jan. 20: "Large Brewing Corporation Formed Here." The announcement included an architect's rendering of the future Premier Brewing Co. — a large $500,000 production facility — and a photo of J. Berg von Linde, a master brewer from Germany who had been contracted to run the brewery.
The facility, "believed to be the first industry of its kind in the Carolinas," was to be built on a 15-acre site along what is now Greensboro Road, according to The Enterprise. The men behind the project were all heavy hitters in the business world, including R.B. Terry, one of the original officers of what is now the International Home Furnishings Center; Grattan Foy, president of the High Point Paper Box Co.; and J.P. Rawley, co-publisher of The Enterprise, along with Terry.
According to the article, the brewery would be a boon for local farmers who were willing to grow barley and hops, two of the main ingredients in beer.
"While neither of these crops are grown to any extent in the state at the present time, it is believed that because of the enormous amount of these grains to be consumed in the manufacture of beer, it will encourage the farmers to grow these crops on a commercial scale," The Enterprise wrote. "It is believed that an industry of this kind over a period of years will purchase millions of dollars worth of these raw basic products."
Von Linde, described as "a foremost authority on brewing here and abroad," told the reporter that Premier Beer would be based on an old German formula and would be "the tastiest beer obtainable in the United States."
Initially, von Linde said, the plant was expected to have an annual production capacity of 50,000 barrels of beer, but it could quickly grow to as many as 200,000 barrels per year if everything went smoothly.
The facility was expected to open by late spring or early summer. We can only imagine that High Point was all abuzz — if you'll pardon the pun — about its new beer manufacturing facility.
Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong between that January 1935 announcement and July 1935, when The Enterprise published a Certificate of Dissolution from the North Carolina secretary of state. It's not clear what happened, but Premier Brewing never did make its premiere.
And just like that, the fizz was gone.
jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579
