Cook’s Brewery: Then and Now

September 15, 2025

2–3 minutes

part of the Then and Now continuing series about the March of Time

As you might expect in a town with as German a heritage as Evansville, breweries were plentiful. One of the largest was Cook’s Brewery, officially the F.W. Cook Brewing Co.

In 1853 Frederick Washington Cook and Jacob Rice opened City Brewery in what as at that time a cornfield near the downtown area.

**Although this image is not dated, the time period depicted is 1853-1885.** MSS 184-0547, the Brad Awe Collection

Rice died in 1885, and the brewery was renamed F.W. Cook Brewing Co. Through much of its existence it was operated by members of the Cook family. The 1900 image seen below gives some idea of the size of the operation. The address was 11 NW 7^th St. (that’s now MLK Blvd.), but it covered the entire block encompassing NW 7^th St., Sycamore St., 8^th St., and Main St.

**This advertisement dates to 1900.** MSS 184–1025, the Brad Awe Collection

Here are several actual photographs of the company.

**This postcard dates to circa 1885.** RH 033-0039, the Local Postcards Collection

**This view of the corner of Sycamore and 7th St. shows the iconic Cook tower, which was visible from quite a distance. The date is 1964**. MSS 181-0417, the Darrel Bigham Collection

**This photograph shows the stables used by the brewery for delivering its product in the early days. This is 804 Sycamore St.** This image dates to 1964. MSS 228-0616, the Sonny Brown Collection

The F. W. Cook Brewing Co. suffered a major fire in 1905 but rebuilt. They were forced to close during Prohibition, but reopened in 1933. A major remodel in 1950 removed the dome seen in some of the images above. At that time, the business was purchased by Anton Hulman, who ceased operation in 1955 after a strike. The F.W. Cook corporation was dissolved in 1961.

All physical evidence of the business was removed in 1965 as it was razed to make way for the Civic Center complex. The March 16, 1964 aerial view below shows the footprint of the Civic Center, with the last vestiges of Cook near the bottom right corner, including the smokestack.