Good news! For 2018, we upgraded our geotrail to an official Geocaching GeoTour! Learn more about Pennsylvania's Clearfield County GeoTour, which offers a series of 5 related geocaching adventures: Forgotten Clearfield, Hometown Heroes, Waterways, Cemeteries, and Parks and Recreation. Codes are hidden within each cache. Collect 25 codes from across all 5 series and you qualify for a collectible prize. If you complete all 5 and have your passport validated, you can receive a trackable geocoin.
Clearfield County is full of old and historical locations, buildings, and remnants of by gone eras. Come and cache Clearfield County to learn about its rich history through ghost towns, abandoned cemeteries, Civil War uprisings and its rich Native American presence.
This cache was placed with permission from the business owner and brings you to the site of the DuBois Brewery...
There seems to be some debate as to exactly when Frank Hahne came to DuBois and broke ground on his own facility. One source claims 1898, another 1897. It seems most likely that this occurred between April and the end of 1896. It was on April 16, 1896, that the DuBois Weekly Courier reported: "Some new developments in connection with the brewery may be looked for in the near future."
There were a number of reasons Hahne chose the DuBois site for his facility, but the most frequently cited was the excellence of the water supply. He purchased 2,300 acres (9.3 km2) surrounding the local reservoir to protect the watershed from pollution.
By 1906, the brewery had four products on the market: DuBois Wurzburger, Hahne's Export Pilsener, DuBois Porter, and DuBois Budweiser. The Budweiser name would be at the center of controversy for 60 years between DuBois Brewing and Anheuser-Busch.
The DuBois brands soon traveled far and wide for a brewery of its size; ranging up to 150 miles (240 km) away and selling well in Buffalo, Erie and Pittsburgh. The brewery's 300 barrel kettle was kept busy churning out brands, while the left-over grain materials were pressed and sold for cattle feed and grist mills in the rural areas surrounding DuBois.
As with many other American breweries, DuBois Brewing moved right along until 1918 and the advent of Prohibition. The brewery shifted production to "near beer" and soft drinks and opened the H&G Ice Company. According to the April 7, 1933, DuBois Courier, the brewery won the honor of being one of only two breweries in the entire nation that had never violated or been suspected of violating the Prohibition laws since the 18th Amendment went into effect. As a result, DuBois Brewing Company was issued license number G-2, allowing them to resume brewing immediately upon the enaction of the 21st Amendment.
Frank Hahne died in 1932, and the brewery was passed to his son, Frank Hahne Jr. Frank Hahne Jr. was the Hahne Senior's only son, and his only son died in infancy, leaving the family without an heir. Hahne Jr. sold the brewery to Pittsburgh Brewing in 1967.
The Brewery was torn down in late 2003.