When the famous Budweiser Clydesdales high step through the Old Market during Friday night's Memorial Day Parade, they will be walking in the historic hoofprints of 19th-century Omaha beer horses.
The Anheuser-Busch Beer Depot, 1213 Jones St., was built in 1887 and joined the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1979 as an example of 19th century Romanesque architecture. From its opening until Prohibition became the law in 1919, the building was used to distribute beer in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming.
An adjacent stable, long gone, housed six teams of horses that hauled beer locally.
Friday's pre-parade activities including live music will begin at 4 p.m. at 12th and Jackson streets, where the parade is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. It will follow a short route: two blocks east to 10th Street, then 2½ blocks south to the Durham Museum.
The Clydesdales, according to a history prepared by Anheuser-Busch, were first introduced to the public on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. August A. Busch Jr. and Adolphus Busch III presented a six-horse hitch as a gift to their father, August Anheuser Busch Sr. The Clydesdales then proceeded to pull a red and white wagon carrying the first case of post-Prohibition beer from the St. Louis brewery. Â
The beer depot went up 13 years after the Anheuser Busch Brewing Association of St. Louis opened an agency in Omaha. The four buildings included an office, beer vault and ice house, as well as the stable. Only the office building, which now houses two law firms, remains.Â
Omaha architect Henry Voss designed the Anheuser-Busch depot. Voss also designed other early Omaha breweries, including Metz Brothers, Fred Krug, Storz and Jetter.Â
While the depot operated, Anheuser Busch shipped beer over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Workers bottled, then stored beer for distribution at the depot, which was located just a block from the tracks.Â
The depot employed 16 men and housed six teams of horses, according to a plaque detailing the depot's history displayed on the front of the building. The complex had a refrigeration capacity equivalent to 10 railcars of beer.
Though only one story, the office building's raised basement and strongly trimmed roofline give it extra height. The building's front is decorated by double-paired columns, stone-carved arches and a variety of bricklaying patterns.
In 1988, a distinctive ornament known as a finial on top of the west side of the doorway was toppled by wind. It was stolen and has never been recovered, according to the plaque.