Hardware Brewing Co. was established in 2016 in a 112-year-old building built in 1904 by J. Alexander Block. A historic fire raged through our town and the surrounding community in 1904, burning both residential buildings and the Main St. businesses that were the glue of the community. Main Street and its’ merchants’ shops and businesses, formerly built from wood, almost entirely burned down. Fortunately, this town was built by God fearing, dedicated, tenacious, independent, new Americans with an incredible hardworking pioneer spirit. They wasted no time getting to work rebuilding the town, recovered on their own, without being dependent on the government handouts. They relied on their own strength and each other.
The ancestors of Abrams, Brocke, Carr, Dammeral, Emmett, Federson, Galloway, Glaser, Hamond, Harris, Hectner, Hedler, Knepper, Lohman, Lukens, Meyer, Morey, Onstott, Parks, Perryman, Silflow, Wollf, and we could name another 50 families, literally rebuilt the town they believed in and loved so much. They utilized locally cut and milled brick and lumber, harvested and milled right here in our Juliaetta/Kendrick hills. These proud, determined, and committed men and women through a lot of faith and sweat, rebuilt the downtown community; the hub of any thriving community. They also did it in record time, with no modern equipment. The utility and beauty they created with the simple tools of their era, made in the USA, often of their own design, has lasted generations. They created beauty in their architecture, with tremendous pride, and a strong dedication to community.
We had a vision that we hope honors the community and its ancestors who built the building that we are lucky enough to revamp. We wanted to display the history and heritage of the grand old building. With that in mind, we have opened up the inside of the former hardware store in a way to display its original glory. Once again the 114-year-old brick is in view, and on full display. We used 100 plus year old wood we took out of the building for the trim work on the inside, and around the entry doors. Old tools, that are from a long line of Lohmans line the walls beautifully, all of which would very well have been familiar to those who built the building.
