Tamaqua was home to several breweries, but the town's most famous lasted only nine years.

"A brewery was established in 1898 by Jonathan F. McGinty and operated under various names until 1934. There probably were other independents as well, but McGinty's was very well-known," said Dale Freudenberger, president of the Tamaqua Historical Society.Ground was broken in 1896 for the complex, completed in 1897. It operated until 1909, when it became the Liberty Brewing Co. until 1920, at which point it was shut down due to national Prohibition.From 1933-34, following Prohibition, it was known as the Lehigh Valley Brewing Co. and finally Rahn Brewing Co. in 1934.According to "One Hundred Years of Brewing, 1803-1903," guide to American breweries, McGinty operated his 409-413 E. Broad St. brewery from offices at 41 West Broad St.McGinty's was famous for lager, XXX Porter, Brown Stout and wholesale liquors. It had a capacity of 15,000 barrels a year, increasing to 40,000 by 1903.McGinty bottles, shot glasses and other memorabilia are in the hands of local collectors and highly sought after.Similarly, Liberty memorabilia can be found locally as well. A rare Liberty beer tray in near mint condition sold for $1,200 on eBay, the Internet auction site, 10 years ago.An article in the June 10, 1898, Tamaqua Evening Courier described the founder: "Mr. McGinty is an affable, pleasant gentleman and has the distinction of being the only Irishman brewing beer in the state. The McGinty brewery was only recently erected at a cost of $140,000. It is perhaps one of the most modern equipped in the state. The beer brewed is of the very best - there is no adulteration of any kind and hops and alt are in evidence."Interestingly, McGinty may also have dabbled in soda as well, although those details aren't recorded.However, West Penn Township collector and privy digger John P. "Bussy" Jones discovered what might be the rarest McGinty bottle, one that likely never saw a drop of hops."It's a Hutchinson, and Hutchinsons were used for soda," Jones said. The brand name was Hutchinson Soda Water Bottle, today, simply a hutch.Dismantling the breweryTamaqua native Giff Albright of State College has strong ties to the brewery, something he discussed on Facebook's "Tamaqua Then and Now" forum."My Uncle, Ira Reinhart, bought this after World War II and remodeled it into the Anheuser-Busch warehouse with eight apartments above. I helped clean out all the junk in the mid-40s, before restoration," said Albright, a former Penn State professor who co-authored with R. Thomas Berner "An Illustrated History of Tamaqua" in 2010.Albright said the brewery's hardware remained intact during the prewar years."It was a very interesting collection of large brewing equipment," Albright said."A lot of the metal items had been stripped, removed and salvaged earlier for the World War II effort. There was a built-in wooden grain bin two stories high made of 2-by-12 lumber laid flat and stacked/nailed upon each other. That lumber was taken apart, then sawed into two-by-fours and used as studs for all the interior partitions of the apartments."We didn't have to buy any lumber for the complete conversion to apartments. Another interesting feature was the insulation used to create the 'cool rooms' used in the brewing process in the 1890s. There was no mechanical refrigeration, so pitch was used inside of the brick walls which were several bricks thick. It was oozing out at several places. Also, the original Tamaqua Edison Power plant was attached to the back of the building."In fact, McGinty was a director of the power company, among the first in the nation.The Tamaqua Light, Heat and Power Company featured a tall stone or brick stack as part of the stone building, according to Albright.After World War II, the long-abandoned building was converted into a garage and automobile sales agency. Albright said remnants of electrical equipment were found but most had been removed for the World War II scrap drive.