The History of the Monarch Brewing Company of Chicago.

Monarch Brewing Company was a nondescript group of brick buildings at, 1090-1118 West 21st Street, Chicago operated on this site from 1892 until 1958, making it one of Chicago’s longer lasting breweries, and one of the few to survive long after the end of Prohibition.

The section on the left with bricked-up windows was once a bottling house for the brewery (likely built in the 1930s), though it has been heavily altered and shortened.

A former warehouse and shipping building on 21st Place is also still standing. All of the other former brewery buildings on the site have been demolished over the years.

Drink Coaster

WWII Advertisement

Property History:
Joseph Hladovec Brewing Company (1890-1892)
Monarch Brewing Company (1892-1898) Telephone: Canal 6500
Monarch Brewery United Breweries (1898-1909)
Monarch Brewery (1909-1922)
Monarch Beverage Co. (1923-1932) The Prohibition years.
Monarch Brewing Co. Inc. (1932-1936)
Monarch Brewing Co. (1936-1958)
Van Merritt Brewing Co. opened on the same site in 1958 and closed in 1967.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.