Next week the commission is expected to
designate the Charles F. and Mollie Centlivre House at 2417 Spy Run Ave. and
its brick carriage house a local historic district, meaning
they cannot be altered externally or torn down without the city’s permission.
Built in the late 1800s, the Queen Anne-style house was designed by the firm of
Wing & Mahurin and is considered historically and architecturally
“significant” by local preservation group ARCH.
Charles F. Centlivre was treasurer of the
brewery founded by his father, Charles L., in 1862. Known as the French Brewery
at the time it was brewing 20,000 barrels annually by the late 1870.
But on July 16, 1889, a fire that broke out
shortly after 9 p.m. that caused the refrigeration system’s ammonia tank to
explode, causing $350,000 in damage — about $9.7 million today — and killing
two people. Even though the brewery was only insured for $20,000, the family
rebuilt and production resumed within six months. Charles L. Centlivre retired
in 1891 and died three years later, after which the business was renamed the C.
L. Centlivre Brewing Co.
The business prospered until the arrival of
Prohibition in 1920 and survived until its repeal by producing non-alcoholic
beverages and branching out into the “Centlivre Ice and Cold Storage Co.” The
brewery reopened on
There were other changes, too: Old Crown Ale
was added to the brewery’s lineup in 1939 and in just two years Centlivre had
capped 25 million bottles of Old Crown Ale. With its popularity, the Old Crown
Beer label began to replace the Centlivre label. After World War II the brewery
underwent a $1.5 million expansion, increasing its annual capacity to 250,000
barrels. But the prosperity didn’t last: In 1961 the brewery became 100 percent
employee-owned, but competition from larger national breweries proved too much
and the brewery closed for good on
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FAST SHIP--goes to PO next biz day!