A century ago this month, a chapter of Kankakee’s history closed with a crash and a cloud of dust. At 4 a.m. on Sept. 1, 1922, the west wall of the three-story former Diehl Brewery building on Fifth Avenue along the south bank of Soldier Creek crumbled and fell to the ground.

The impact of the falling stone wall shook the neighborhood, and almost certainly awakened patients at Emergency (now St. Mary) Hospital and boarding students in the third-floor dormitory of St. Joseph Seminary. Both institutions were located just over a block to the south of the old brewery building.

“After standing for nearly 65 years,” reported the Kankakee Daily Republican, “the three-story structure built of rugged stone and mortar crumbled, and the entire west wall crashed down, covering the ground for a distance of nearly 100 feet from the base.”

City officials, after inspecting the condition of the partly collapsed building, “notified the owner’s attorney that the three walls which remain standing must be torn down at once or the city will wreck the building at the owner’s expense…. It is believed that the residences in the immediate vicinity of the structure are in danger because of the tottering walls.”

The building, vacant for many years, had been a subject of concern for some time — the Republican noted that, “West-side aldermen called the attention of the City Council to the dangerous condition of the building at the last meeting and the city attorney was directed to call the attention of the owner to the dangerous condition of the walls.”

Kankakee’s first brewery was established in the late 1850s on the west side of Fifth Avenue, just south of Soldier Creek, by a man named John Sigwalt. Little is known about Sigwalt, who sold the brewery to George Diehl and Chris Magnus in 1862. Although known as the Diehl Brewery building, the structure was believed to date to 1858, indicating that it had been constructed by Sigwalt.

Diehl, brother-in-law of a successful Chicago brewery owner, became the sole owner of the Kankakee brewery in 1865, when he bought out Chris Magnus’ interest in the business. By that time, the Diehl Brewery had local competition — the Riverside Brewery established by Jacob Hanley on the north bank of the Kankakee River at Dearborn Avenue. Diehl’s product was believed to be the more popular, possibly because of the mineral spring water used in its brewing process.

In its article on the building collapse, the Republican noted, “Near the building was the famous mineral well, the water of which was supposed to contain certain medicinal qualities. A bath house was maintained there and persons drove for many miles to claim the supposed benefits for the magic baths.”

When George Diehl died of tuberculosis in 1876 at the age of 49, the brewery business died with him. The building was used for a number of years as a stable for horses gathered for shipment; later it was a warehouse for animal feed. In the early 1890s, the property was proposed as the site for the city’s first medical facility, Emergency Hospital. The location was rejected, however; its proximity to Soldier Creek was deemed unhealthy. “For many years now,” reported the Republican, “it has been abandoned altogether.”

By the time that George Diehl died and his brewery closed in 1876, the competing Riverside Brewery had undergone ownership and name changes and had grown considerably. In 1866, German immigrants Fred and Margaret Beckman purchased the Riverside operation from Jacob Hanley. Margaret Beckman’s brother, Frederick D. Radeke, came to Kankakee in 1867 and operated several businesses; in 1870, he joined the Beckmans in the brewery business.

In 1873, the Riverside Brewery was reorganized and acquired a new name — Radeke — that would be synonymous with Kankakee-brewed beer for more than 50 years. The F.D. Radeke Brewing Company embarked upon an ambitious expansion program. Between 1873 and 1877, the company erected its large brewhouse and ice storage facilities on the west side of Dearborn Avenue, between River Street and the Kankakee River.

With no local competition, the Radeke operation grew steadily. During the early decades of the 20th century, the brewery’s workforce expanded to 125 men. In a typical year of that period, the brewery turned out 40,000 barrels of beer and produced 30,000 bottles of beer each working day.

On Jan. 1, 1920, however, the brewing of Radeke beer came to a halt as the Volstead Act (Prohibition) went into effect nationwide. Brewing and consuming beer again became legal in 1933. By that time, the Radeke facility had a new owner and a new name, Kankakee Beverage Company. Its product failed to gain popularity, however, and the business closed permanently in 1936. Locally brewed beer again became available in this area, after more than a half-century, with the development of the craft-beer brewing movement.

Today, what currently occupies the site where the Diehl Brewery building stood from 1858 to 1922?

Answer: A large parking lot serving a medical office building located at 555 W. Court Street (the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Court Street).