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!

Anthony Ilg, Pioneer Brewer

Anthony Ilg, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Casper Ilg, was born in Germany in 1820. He came to the United States in 1849, settling first in Cincinnati, where he worked in the hotel and saloon business. In the 1870s, he and his family moved to Sandusky, where he purchased an interest in the old Fox brewery, becoming a partner in the brewery known as Raible, Strobel, and Ilg. From 1874 to 1879, the brewery was operated by Strobel and Ilg. Eventually Mr. Ilg became the sole proprietor, with his son Otto working for him. The Anthony Ilg brewery operated at the foot of Harrison Street on Sandusky’s west side until the late 1880s.  

The 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the layout of the Ilg Brewery, with a large ice house, and smaller areas for coal, barley, mash and malt:

An excerpt from Hewson L. Peeke’s A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, describes the popularity of breweries and saloons in Sandusky in 1883:

According to Peeke’s History, there was a saloon for every sixty five residents of Sandusky in 1883.

Anthony Ilg passed away on July 18, 1905, and was buried in the North Ridge section of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.