The Amherst Spring/Old Braun Brewery

The entirety of the city of Amherst will be covered on a different post. Due to time constraints I was only able to visit one of the old structures at the edge of downtown, but it has a lot of historical significance, some of which I did not know about until this post.

12.5 Miles (Google Maps)

The Old Spring

I am always surprised when I sit down and start writing these posts as to how much history about the area I can find online. I am also surprised when I discover something that I did not know about an area I ride to, especially when I take the perfect picture for a "then and now shot".

The story here starts with the old spring. The spring was constructed in the early 1800's and served as the main water supply for the then village of Amherst. People would come down to the spring with pales and return home with the water. Unfortunately once water lines were laid the spring fell into disrepair. It was hard to find many "then" shots of the spring, mainly because at the time of use there were no cameras, and once there were cameras people weren't really lining up to take photographs in front of it. At the time the spring was just a utility structure that nobody thought much into, therefore nobody really bothered to photograph the structure.

The entrance arch to the spring. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they built it. Now it looks like art.

Another angle of the entrance.

Steps leading down to the spring. These steps are very steep. I don't believe there were safety regulations in the 19th century.

The spring as it stands today in 2014. As you can see by the sign the water is no longer fit for human consumption.

Similar view in the early 1900's. As you can see there was also and arch down there once. (Amherst Public Library)

The picture above also shows a metal cylindrical structure to the right with a grate around the entirety of it. I believe this was some sort of heater, possibly loaded with wood or maybe even kerosene.

As you can see the now damaged structure is still there. I did not get any close up shots. I assumed that it was placed there more recently and that it would not be important. We all know what assuming does.

Close up shot of the spring. Now that's some high quality H2O.

Old rusty water line leading to the spring. I thought this was a snake at first. Close call.

This is the old Milan Road. It was made from cobblestone and ran directly next to the spring. Now it is just another entrance to the site.

The old Milan Road from a distance. The road up top to the left where the current arch is is the current Milan Road. I wonder if that is why there was an arch down by the spring, because it was the only entrance at the time and the road ran right next to it like how the current road runs next to the current arch?

Same spot taken most likely in the early 1900's. Notice the two arches. This was after the new road was built.
(Amherst Public Library)

This is the bridge for the current Milan Road that passes over beaver creek.

The bridge was built in 1912, which leads me to believe that would be the same year the new Milan Road was built that bypassed the old cobblestone one. In 1912 cars were becoming a staple in American lifestyle and with that came the more easily traveled paved roads. (Bridge Hunter)

Unfortunately the bridge is in bad shape and is considered structurally deficient according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. It only received a 38 out of 100 sufficiency rating and is scheduled to be replaced in 2016.

Something Learned

I then turned around and headed back up the hill to my bike. I rode behind city hall to get a better view of the whole area.

The spring (not pictured) is to the right. You can see the bridge in the distance. Take a close look at the bench at the center of the picture.

As I was looking through old news articles about Amherst I came across one from 2013. I know that this isn't exactly the same historical information I bring into these posts, but this next picture caught my eye.

I know the picture is blurry, but as you can see there is a fence around where the bench currently resides. (News Net 5)

Almost exactly a year ago construction crews, while working to restore the spring and the area surrounding it stumbled across something pretty amazing (well, at least to me).

This picture was taken in early 2013 on the spot where the bench is currently. What is down there I wonder? Let's find out! (Mark Costilow)

In 1852 a man by the name of William Braun immigrated to the United States from Germany at the age of 18. In 1860 he moved to Amherst and started a brewery behind his house. The brewery resided on the prime land next to the spring.

As you can see in this picture taken in the late 1800's the spring is located above the "X". The building to the far right is the brewery built entirely of (you guessed it) Amherst Sandstone. I am not sure what the other building is. (New Indian Ridge Museum)

As you can see from this terrible quality picture the old Milan cobblestone road ran down next to the brewery with Braun's house resting at the top of the ridge. (New Indian Ridge Museum)

In fact, as you can see in this picture here the Braun House still exists today and is now a bed and breakfast. If I would have known that while I was taking pictures I would have gotten a better shot of the house.

Now back down the hill. What the construction crew found while digging was a massive cellar. In fact there is probably more than one. These cellars were used to house beer awaiting transport from the brewery.

The inside of one of the cellars. Taken in 2013. (Mark Costilow)

The cellar was also built using sandstone. The construction crew stated that bottles and other artifacts were found all over the floor. How cool would it have been to find this? (Mark Costilow)

The Braun Brewery was closed in 1894 when the railroad acquired some of the land it resided on. The cellars were not sealed until the depression years. (New Indian Ridge Museum)

In 1954 a newspaper article ran about the old Braun Brewery.

I find it funny how this article was dead on. (Amherst Historical Society)

The cellar was resealed in 2013 and construction was halted. I imagine the restoration of the area will be put on hold until the city decides what will become of the cellars that until last year remained undisturbed under the land for about 80 years. I hope they decide to keep at least one of them. I just don't know how they will be able to open the cellars to the public without vandalism and/or safety concerns.

Thank you for exploring this topic with me. Stay tuned for more posts! If anyone has any suggestions for this blog to make it better let me know.