Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Champagne Wineries, Inc. ca. 1950
• Derby and Ansonia Brewery 1903-1924
• Derby and Ansonia Brewing Co. 1897-1903
• Hygeia Ice Co. ca. 1924-1927
• Old England Brewing Co., Inc. 1933-1936
• Southern New England Ice Co. 1927-ca. 1933
• The Old England Brewing Co., Inc. 1936-1941

Use (Historic)

• Food, Beverage, Tobacco
• Other: Ice Manufacturing

Largest Documented Workforce

25-49 (1936)

Historic Narrative

The Derby and Ansonia Brewing Company was established by German immigrants Herman and Carl Metzger in 1897. The firm established itself on Derby Avenue where the Metzgers lived and by 1901 produced a line of beers including a “Real Genuine Wurzburger” brewed with Canadian malts and Bavarian Hops, as well as its Extra Fine Ale and Porter. In 1903, the company changed its official name to the Derby and Ansonia Brewery, however, local maps and directories often used the original title interchangeably through the 1920s. The Derby and Ansonia Brewery was forced to cease production of alcoholic beverages with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment and the onset of Prohibition in 1920. The firm fought to stay profitable through the production of near beer and other 'cereal beverages,' yet in 1923 was found in violation of the prohibition act after it was discovered to be manufacturing alcoholic beverages. The company was fined $100 for each of three counts of possession, manufacture, and sale of beer, and was forced to cease operating as the Derby and Ansonia Brewery. In the wake of this ruling the Metzger family formed the Hygeia Ice Company, which expanded and occupied the complex until 1927. In 1927, the former Derby and Ansonia Brewing Company plant was operated under the auspices of the Southern New England Ice Company, which had been formed in February of that year by the merger of an array of ice companies operating a total of 34 properties throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Southern New England Ice Company remained in the plant until 1933, the year the Twenty-First Amendment repealed prohibition. With the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933 the former Derby and Ansonia Brewing Company plant resumed its role as a brewery, operated by the Old England Brewing Company, which was incorporated in March 1933. The firm was led by Alphonse H. Gosch, president; Charles M. Everitt, vice-president; James E. Murphy, treasurer; and Ralph G. Hadley, secretary. A Hartford Courant article published in June 1933 proclaimed that, 'Good news travels fast… and, because others have told you how satisfying and tasteful OLD ENGLAND ALE is… accept no similarly named substitute. Nor could there be a substitute. Our recipe has been passed down through the ages… modernized by newer brewing methods. Demand the REAL THING… it costs you no more. Remember… there is but ONE… OLD ENGLAND ALE.' The Old England Brewing Company was initially successful but ultimately remained in business for less than a decade. The brewery closed its doors in 1941 and the plant was next shared by the Derby Cold Storage Company and Champagne Wineries, Inc. during the mid-1940s. These were both gone by the late 1950s when the property was occupied by the United Salvaging Company. Numerous entities have since come and gone in succession, with the most notable change being the rehabilitation of two blocks at the southeast corner of the plant for residential use in 1980. Other current occupants include firms dealing in heating oil sales, glass repair, heating and air conditioning repair and service, plumbing repair, and photography.

Number of Existing Buildings

Eleven (11) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1910, ca. 1924, ca. 1933, ca. 1940, post-1965.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill

Architectural Description

The former Derby and Ansonia Brewing Company property is the site of eleven buildings in two clusters of adjoining blocks. These are located on the west side of Derby Avenue just north of Derby Avenue's intersection with Mansfield Street. The plant has experienced numerous modifications and additions as various tenants changed throughout the first half of the twentieth century and as a result it appears that only two blocks of the present blocks were occupied by the Derby and Ansonia Brewing Company. The remaining structures were either built for the Hygeia Ice Company ca. 1933, or the Old England Brewing Company ca. 1933 or ca. 1940. The cluster of buildings situated on the southern side of the parcel consists of five adjoining blocks extending in a roughly linear footprint westward away from Derby Avenue. From east to west these include a one-and-a-half-story, 18’ x 36’ red brick boiler house built ca. 1933; a two-story, 45’ x 34’ red brick brewhouse built ca. 1933; a two-story, 45’ x 38’ red brick cellaring and storage building erected ca. 1910; a one-story, 45’ x 80’ concrete block cellaring and washing building erected ca. 1933; and a one-story, 21’ x 30’ concrete block storage building erected ca. 1940. All of the blocks are of vernacular styling and with the exception of the segmental-arched window openings present in several of the blocks have minimal exterior ornamentation. The most notable alterations to the buildings date to 1980 when the brewhouse and cellaring and storage buildings were converted for residential use and a modern entry and additional window opening were constructed on the east elevation of the brewhouse. The remainder of the structures located on the former Derby and Ansonia Brewing Company property stand to the north of the aforementioned buildings in a group of six adjoining blocks sprawling to the north away from Derby Avenue. From south to north these include a two-story, 30’ x 53’ red brick office building erected ca. 1910; a one-story, 18’ x 25’ red brick ice storage (later cellaring) building erected ca. 1924; a one-story, 48’ x 25’ red brick ice storage (later cellaring) building erected ca. 1924; a two-story, 90’ x 30’ red brick ice making (later bottling) building erected ca. 1924; a one-story, 33’ x 11’ frame storage building erected post-1965; and a one-story, 54’ x 58’ red brick storage building erected ca. 1924. Like the cluster of blocks to the south, the majority of the northern group are of vernacular styling but for segmental-arched window openings present in most of the buildings. The primary exception to this is the office building, which displays rectangular window openings with splayed brick lintels, ashlar stone sills, and a widely overhanging stamped metal cornice with a swag-adorned frieze and detailed brackets.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable
• Shed

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The exterior walls of several blocks show signs of deterioration; however, they appear sound, as do the plant’s various roofs. The majority of the original window openings have been preserved, as has much of the original fenestration. The two blocks at the southeast corner of the plant were converted for residential use in 1980, whereupon a modern entry was constructed on the east elevation of the easternmost of the two buildings.

Specific Location

One 1.01-acre parcel (326 Derby Avenue) on the west side of Derby Avenue just north of Derby Avenue's intersection with Mansfield Street.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 6-11 15 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

1.01

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Residential

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

01/13/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Map of New Haven County, H & C.T. Smith, 1856.
4. Atlas of New Haven County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
5. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
6. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1896, 1901, 1906, 1912, 1924, 1947.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. Bird’s Eye View of Birmingham, Connecticut, O.H. Bailey, 1876.
10. The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880, 1880.
11. History of New Haven County, 1892.
12. Tercentenary Pictorial and History of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, Malloy, Leo T., 1935.
13. Derby, Connecticut 300th Anniversary Commemorative Book; 1675-1975, 1975.
14. Hartford Courant, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1933, 1944.
15. Derby City Directories, 1900-1960.
16. American Breweries II, Van Wieran, Dale P., 1995.