Koehler's Neon Sign and Clock

Old Time Erie: Koehler clock photo ©John Baker 2013.

Stark. Bold. Stately. The old Koehler clock on State Street. How sad it was to watch this old sign suffer a slow and agonizing death. Its paint peeled. Rust dissolved the iron. The hands stopped turning. Time stood still. No one seems to remember the exact day when the Koehlers first flipped the switch. It lit up the skyline for many years.

The old red and white building at 2121 State St. was constructed in 1863, at a turbulent time when the Civil War was in full swing. The brewery was established in Erie, Pennsylvania by the Koehler family in 1847. The Erie Brewing Company sold the Koehler brand to C. Schmidt and Co. of Philadelphia in February of 1978 and stopped brewing beer in Erie. The five building complex sat vacant from '78 until it was leveled in the spring of 2006.

Did you know there were several Koehler beer references in the movie That Thing You Do featuring Tom Hanks? Click the movie title for a cool article with stills from the scenes in the motion picture.

Reminisce about the old days at Old Time Erie

Koehler Brewery 1888 Trifecta Erie PA

-ad in Cooke, Howard & Co. Erie PA 1888 directory.

The Koehler family members are amongst the best-known brewers from Erie, Pennsylvania. Charles Koehler, the patriarch of the family, had a brewery on 26th and Holland Street. Following his death in 1869, his sons- Fred, Louis and Jackson Koehler, carried on his business.

By 1888, the sons had their own businesses. Fred Koehler & Co. was located at the corner of 26th and Holland Streets. Fred was a partner of Adolph L. Curtze.

Louis Koehler owned the City Bottling Works at 1311 State Street. In addition to beer, he bottled and manufactured ginger ale, pop, birch beer, pear cider and mineral water.

Jackson Koehler, owner of the Eagle Brewery at 22nd and State Street, was the brewer that most people are familiar with. By 1895, Jackson was brewing 30,000 barrels of beer per year.

Find more historic facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie