Soergel, Dorn & Raible Brewery

From about 1864 through 1871, there was a brewery on Harrison Street, just north of Adams Street, run by George Soergel, Philip Dorn, and Paul Raible. Though this business was in operation for less than ten years, there are interesting facts we can learn about the company from the City Directory for Sandusky, as well as the 1870 United States Census. By doing a search for the surname Dorn in the 1867 McKelvey Directory for Sandusky, we find out the names of several employees of the company.

·        *  J.G. Engler worked as a cooper 

·        * Sebastian Fox and Henry Hinkle were teamsters

·        *  Henry Schoepfle  and Brobert Stugir worked as brewers

In the 1870 United States Census, the families of George Soergel (spelled Sorgel in the 1870 census enumeration), Philip Dorn, and Paul Raible were listed all together in the same neighborhood in the Fifth Ward of the city of Sandusky. George Soergel was age 52, and was born in Bavaria, Germany. He was married to Catherine, and they had four children living in their household, ranging in age from 5 to 17. Philip and Margaret Dorn, ages 42 and 32, were also natives of Bavaria. Their children were ages 5 and 8. Paul Raible, age 35, had been born in Prussia, while his wife Christina, age 26, was a native of Württemberg. The four youngsters in their household were all under age 5.

By looking at the image of the trade card from Soergel, Dorn and Raible, we can surmise that the lagerbeer and ale that was created at the company was distributed by railroad cars.

Deliveries were also made by horse drawn vehicles.

On page 23 of McKelvey’s Sandusky Directory, we see that there were several German social and musical societies to which the proprietors of Soergel, Dorn and Raible may have belonged. There was even a German language newspaper at that time, the Bay Stadt Demokrat.

By 1879, Anthony Ilg was running a brewery at the former site of Soergel, Dorn and Raible. In 1905, the Diamond Wine Company and Lake Erie Wine Company were in business at this location. In the 1910s,  the Easiest Way Manufacturing Company made washing machines here. In 1942, the Peerless Stove and Manufacturing relocated from Columbus to the northeast corner of Adams and Harrison Streets in Sandusky. If walls could talk, the walls of these buildings would have many stories to tell!