We are recording the history of the Brewery.  From it's beginning as the Edison Powerplant to what it has become today.  This is an ongoing effort, based on information we dig up and submissions from you.  If you have photos and/or stories please pass them on to Tori, Brewery Historian.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Tori, Brewery  Historian

The Brewery

The Brewery has had a colorful past.  It gets its name from its previous incarnation, the "Pabst Brewery Company".  It is made up of approximately 14 different buildings, located on 23 acres.  The architecture of these buildings varies, as they were built at different times.  the oldest of these buildings is called the "Edison Building".

Edison Building 

Built in 1902 as the "Edison Electric Steam Power Plant", it was later called "Southern California Edison, Electric Power Station #3".  The front of the building still has the faded painted sign, "Edison Power Company".  In 1992, it was registered as Historic Cultural Los Angeles City Landmark #388, and was included with two other smaller parcels, as part of The Brewery.

The building was designed by John Parkinson, who emigrated from the Britain to Winnipeg, MT, (where he found work building fences), and then to Minneapolis, MN.  He worked as a stairbuilder in Napa, CA, around 1885 and then moved to Washington, in January 1889. In Seattle, he was a partner in Parkinson and Evers, Architects and then as a sole practioner, he worked for the Seattle School Board, designing schools. In 1894, during the Great Depression, Parkinson relocated to Los Angeles, and lived here until his death in 1935, becoming one of the city's most successful practitioners.

John Parkinson's formal education ended at age 13. Like many architects of the 19th century, he learned by apprenticing himself to an established practitioner in the town of Bolton, England, until 1882.  Parkinson took night school classes at Mechanics Institute, Bolton, UK, before 1883, studying architectural drawing and engineering.

Having designed or contributed to the design of over 75 buildings, some of the more notable in Los Angeles are:

• Banks-Huntly Building
• Broadway-Hollywood Store
• Bullock's Wilshire Department Store
• Los Angeles City Hall
• Hotel Rosslyn
• Los Angeles Athletic Club
• Mason Opera House
• Saks Fifth Avenue Store Building

References:

• https://digital.lib.washington.edu/php/architect/record.phtml?type=structure&structureid=1497
• https://digital.lib.washington.edu/php/architect/record.phtml?type=architect&architectid=108