San Francisco Landmarks
Ruins of the Albion Ale and Porter BreweryUndated Photograph
San Francisco Public Library
(Larger Image Not Available)
9 June 2005(Click Photo to Zoom)
Hunters Point Springs-Albion Brewery
881 Innes Avenue at India Basin Shoreline Park
Hunters Point
Built 1870
1870
John Hamlin Burnell purchases property on the edge of San Francisco Bayto obtain rights to the natural springs which run underneath. Hebuilds theAlbion Ale and Porter Brewing Company in a traditionalNorman style using stones which may have been recycled from ships' ballast or may have been quarried locally. Later he builds the Albion Water Co. next door to sell bottled spring water.
1919
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitutionprohibits "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within...the United States," thus destroyingAlbion Ale and Porter Brewing Companyafter its successful run of almost fifty years.
The brewery structures fall into ruin.
1933
Adrien Alexander Voisin, a sculptor, purchases the property and spendsmore than twenty years restoring and remodeling it for his studio and home.
2005
The property remains a private residence and studio.