Charles and Hugo purchased a lot on the west side of 18th Avenue just south of 9th Street, just south of the Armory, on February 3, 1902. The lot was purchased from Edwin Scovill for $800. It was announced in the April 9 Sentinel that Einbecks would be building a 2-story brick building there to house the Monroe Bottling Works.

An uninhabited house on the northwest corner of 16th Avenue and 9th Street, which was used by the Einbeck Brothers to store pop boxes, was partially burned early on the morning of August 16, 1905. Two years later on May 27, the Sentinel shared, “a merry-go round is being placed on the Einbeck lot east of the public library.” The Einbecks, Charles, Anna, and Hugo, sold that property to the United Telephone Company on May 20, 1912 for $1. The phone company built the building that still sits on that lot the following year. 

Edward’s widow, Kathinka, passed away at her home on February 16, 1909 after a second stroke of paralysis. The first stroke had occurred in April 1907. Six adult children survived. 

The business was listed with many different names in the city directories. They were listed as Monroe Bottling Works in 1917, as Einbeck Bros. in 1922, and Monroe Soda Water Bottling Works in 1927.   Unfortunately, Hugo passed away on November 28, 1928 at the age of 54; this left Charles as the soul owner. Hugo had a cold for a week prior to his death, but was able to be at the business each day. Shortly after he went to bed at 10 o’clock the evening before, his sister Kathinka heard a groan and went to his room. He had been ailing from heart trouble for the prior three years.

Charles operated the business for five more years until his death on May 14, 1934 at the age of 64. He had been in the hospital for nine days and had not been in good health since January. His death was caused by peritonitis. His son, Edward C., had been active in the business with his father. The 1933 directory listed the business as the Einbeck Beverage Co.

The business was sold to John Tschanz in 1935, who made several additions to the building during the upcoming years. The 1936 directory listed both the Monroe Bottling Works and Green County Distributors at 909 18th Avenue.

The explosion of a machine for making seltzer water blew out seven windows at the plant on the morning of January 19, 1937. It hurled parts about the bottling room and rocked the building while John D. Teuscher and Joseph E. Kesler were working within a few feet of the machine. “Kesler was feeding bottles into a bottling machine and was protected by a pile of wooden cases which screened him from the blast. Teuscher was standing behind the bottling machine, where he was removing the filled bottles, and escaped being struck. Flying pieces of the machine were thrown over their heads and scattered about the room. A twisted piece of heavy gauge copper knocked a hole as large as a man’s hand in the ceiling and lodged between the joists.

“The concussion of air forced out window panes, showering glass on the driveways on either side of the building. The bottling room occupies the rear of the ground floor.

“The report of the explosion attracted a crowd from nearby establishments. The entire building was shaken, and bottles were thrown from shelves in other parts of the building. Damage seemed confined to the wrecked machine and the broken windows in the bottling room.”

An investigation of the insurance policy for the building was being made that afternoon to determine whether it covered loss by explosion.

On Saturday, February 24, 1945, Mrs. John Tschanz miraculously escaped death near noon when she was gassed and fell over a gas heater at the plant while she was assisting her son, William. When her daughter-in-law discovered Mrs. Tschanz’s predicament, she ran outside and called for help. T. A. Hoesley, who was walking home from town, heard her cries and ran into the building to find Mrs. Tschanz lying on the floor over the heater. Her clothes were on fire, and she had a gash on her head. The two managed to carry Mrs. Tschanz to the office of the building and call a doctor. Mr. Hoesley sustained burns on his hands when he beat out the fire, but Mrs. Tschanz was not burned.

William Tschanz became a partner in the business in 1946 and took over the business after his father’s death in August 1948. William announced on May 2, 1949 that the Monroe Bottling Works would discontinue the bottling operation of the soft drinks. He said the plant would have Green and Lafayette County distribution of beverages from the John Graf Co., which was bottled in Milwaukee and trucked to Monroe. The equipment and machinery in the building was sold piecemeal.

The Monroe Bottling Works was moved from the John Sager building, its home since 1902, to the Julius Hofer building one block south, at 1023 18th Avenue, in December 1949. The former bottling building sat empty for at least a year until it was converted into a Youth Center. The building was then razed before 1960; that location became the Drive In for the Commercial & Savings Bank.

— Matt Figi is a Monroe resident and a local historian. His column will appear periodically on Saturdays in the Times. He can be reached at mfigi48@tds.net or at 608-325-6503.