While studying the Sanborn maps of Clinton I've noticed several instances of "Beer Depot"s. Does anyone have any pics or information on the structures? Thanks.
I think what you may be referring to are beer vaults. Here in Texas, the brewery companies would set up secured beer vaults along their routes in towns that had pubs and bars or establishments that served beer and liquor. Those proprietorships would have access to those vaults to keep stock up. The railroads would unload their stock into the vaults. We had one such beer vault here in Fredericksburg, TX, just 40 minutes outside of San Antonio. It was owned by the Lone Star Brewing Company, operated through the San Antonio Brewers Association. The beer vault survives today as Das Peach Haus.
What a novel idea! That makes perfect sense because one of the Sanborn maps of Clinton shows several of these in just a few square blocks.
