A Bosch Brewing Company wall poster. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)

Breweries have become common place across the Upper Peninsula, featuring in towns as large as Marquette and as small as Alpha. Though breweries may seem like a new trend, they have a long history in the area. An early Keweenaw brewer was Joseph Bosch, of the Bosch Brewing Company. He was born in Baden, Germany in 1850 and he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1867, first settling in Port Washington, Wisconsin. They temporarily moved to Houghton before settling more permanently in Lake Linden.

Joseph’s father worked as a brewer while they still lived in Germany and Joseph had shown a great interest in making beer. He learned as much as he could from watching his father work. After they moved to the United States, he wished to continue learning. Joseph’s passion for brewing found him working at breweries in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Fort Wayne.

After several years of learning and training, he moved back to Lake Linden and built a small wooden building stocked with all the brewing equipment he had at the time. This initial setup was quite modest but continued to grow along with the popularity of their beer. The mining industry boom in the Keweenaw saw the populations of towns in the area increase significantly.

Lake Linden and the nearby village of Dollar Bay were rather small communities in the 1860s and 1870s, but Calumet, one of the largest cities in Michigan at the time, was a few miles away. As these, and other towns, continued to develop, more saloons and boarding houses cropped up and bought Bosch beer to serve their patrons. There was one large challenge that Bosch brewing had to face while distributing their beer to the metropolis of Calumet – the St. Louis Hill. This extremely steep and rugged road required very brave teamsters and a strong, well-trained team of horses to traverse.

The consistent growth of Bosch Brewing was not linear. In 1887, most of the town of Lake Linden was burned, including the brewery. Luckily the brewery’s success allowed Bosch to quickly rebuild new facilities. The company continued to flourish after the fire and in 1899 Bosch expanded into another building, purchasing the Union Brewery on the edge of Houghton.

The growth and success of the brewery ended. Following ongoing support of the Temperance Movement and years of anti-drinking activism, the House voted 282 to 128 in support of adopting a prohibition amendment. On January 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment, banning the manufacturing, sale, transportation, and consumption of alcohol, took effect. With this decision, Bosch Brewing Company, and all other breweries and saloons, had to shut their doors.

To the joy of beer enjoyers across the county, the 21st Amendment, repealing the 18th Amendment and legalizing alcohol was ratified on December 5, 1933. Immediately after this decision, Bosch Brewing Company worked to reopen. They abandoned their Lake Linden location, putting all their resources into their Houghton site. The goal was to create a modern brewery utilizing all the most efficient beer making equipment available at the time.

The brewery continued to be a success not only locally, but nationally, continuing its reputation as a modern marvel of the brewing world. After almost a century of brewing they endured some significant hardships. In late September 1973, the brewery abruptly chose to cease production, citing an increase in grain prices and the cancellation of the company’s water agreement with the City of Houghton as the reasons for closing.

Bosch decided to not go out quietly, hosting a final festival at their plant and at another location, a few miles away. The opening ceremony of the event was at 1 p.m. on Sept. 30 as a crowd of people gathered to watch the brewery’s final barrel of beer leave the production line. The party continued all night in Oskar at Schmidt’s Corner with music, dancing, a buffet, and five cent beers.

If you are interested in learning about nightlife and breweries in Marquette, check out the Marquette Regional History Center’s fundraiser “Happy Hour” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Sept. 6. This event will feature a downtown walking tour with Jim Koski, local beer tasting at the History Center, snacks and presentations from some of the brewers behind the beers. Tickets are available now via our website, phone, or in person. This event is sponsored in part by Jennifer Cosco Realty.