History:Â
At first I had no idea what this place was, and had in fact listed it here simply as an Unknown Building in Pennsylvania. Thanks to some great help from Bernard Stiroh at duryeapa.com, I found out that this was the Forest Castle Brewery.
What little history I've been able to acquire so far is that it was built in 1872 and opened by John A. Burschel, a German Immigrant, in 1873, employing 50 men. Construction cost $30,000 at the time.
It appears, however, that it changed hands in 1878 becoming the H.R. Hughes & Co. Brewery. A partnership between Richard M. Hughes and Joseph H. Glennon was formed as the company became the Hughes & Glennon Brewery in 1887. A 217 foot well was drilled giving the brewery the name Pure Deep Rock. After 1894, history becomes a bit sketchy.
An article in the Scranton Republican dated October 9, 1900, indicates that there was a court case against Hughes & Glennon because they were neglecting the business and didn't want to allow the Pennsylvania Brewing Company install a new manager. it seems that at this point, even the court was a bit confused about what jurisdiction the Pennsylvania Brewing Company had in the runnings of the brewery.
The building was purchased in 1917 by J.C. Kenyon with the intention of opening a paper mill. With the business now running as Exeter Paper Corp, it was destroyed by fire on April 11, 1928.
Personal Commentary:Â
Somewhat dejected from missing out on a different location, this little place appeared around a curve as if a consolation. Initially, I had no idea what it was, but subsequent research, and input from some of my visitors helped to clear up the mystery quite quickly.
