2023-12-3 Kreische Brewery & Monument Hill TX

 The last post for this trip is finally at hand. We went to see the Kreische Brewery and Monument Hill. We checked in at the Visitor's Center not knowing what to expect. The first thing we saw was that the grounds were being decorated for Christmas.

Next we saw this beautiful mural painted on tile squares. The subject was gruesome but it was beautifully done.

After the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in 1856, tensions were high between the Mexican Republic and the newly formed Republic of Texas. On 10 September 1842 a Mexican force led by general Adrian Woll marched to San Antonio. Fifty-four men from Fayette County met nearly 400 of Woll's soldiers thirty-six men died. An expedition of 400 men marched towards the Mexican town of Mier where they were met by 3000 Mexican troops. The Texans surrendered after a bloody battle. President Santa Anna ordered all 176 of the remaining prisoners executed but the Mexican leader in charge refused to obey and a compromise was reached to execute 10% of the prisoners. What followed was the Black Bean Episode.

The Mexican leader placed 17 black beans and 159 white beans in a pot. The prisoners were blindfolded and forced to choose a bean. Those that got the black beans were executed.

This is where the Monument Hill Tomb came into being even though the men were not killed on this spot.

Next up was the Kreische Complex. It was not what we were expecting to see. We had a nice walk across the grounds. One of the groundskeepers working on Christmas decorations gave us a shortcut to take which was a nice walk but you could actually do quite a bit of hiking here if you wanted.

This is the front of the Kreische house.

I seem to have lost some pictures. I know I took one of this sewing room. It was very tiny unlike this illustration. A sewing machine would have taken up half the room.

Outside doors and windows were open so you could see into rooms which were decorated.

The house was wide across but not very deep from front to back.

This was the back of the house.

Durinf the 1850s and 1860s, Kreische's primary profession was stonemasonry. In the 1870s, he listed himself as a brewer. He began the operation of a three-story brewery located in a spring-fed ravine behind his home. By 1878, the brewery produced 774 barrels of lager making it the third largest in Texas. Local small sized brewing was hugely affected by the rise of railroads and commercial refrigeration. Kreische died in 1882 and the brewery shut down in 1884. His family continued to live in the house on the bluff for 70 more years until his daughter Julia died in 1952.

The brewery was really more of a ruin that you could see from an overlook down a walk away from the house.

It was an interesting place to visit and worth the trip to see it.