Jacob Goenner, founder of the Goenner Brewery in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was born in Baden, Germany. When Goenner was in his mid 20s he and his wife emigrated to America.

The family first found a home on the Old Portage Canal.  Later they removed to the town of Geistown, where Jacob bacame foreman of a large Cooper shop. From there the family moved to East Conemaugh, then to Gallitzin, and later to Summitt, where in 1867 Goenner partnered with George J. Schwaderer in a brewery.  They ran the brewery for a few years until Goenner decided to set out on his own.

In 1870 Goenner purchased George Guessregan's brewery in Cambria City, a Village outside the limits of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  While the brewery was primitive, powered by only a horse on a treadmill, and the output was small, Jacob Goenner, through grit and perseverence, grew the firm over the next 19 years to be one of the largest in the county.

Then on May 31st of 1889, after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, the South Fork Dam broke and a rush of water came barreling down the  Little Conemaugh River.  The resulting inundation destroyed the town of Johnstown, and Jacob Goenner's brewery was destroyed.  Goenner himself died on July 10th of that year.  At age 66 his death was attributed to exposure and the hard work he endured getting his business up and running again after the flood.

The brewery was continued by his family for decades.  The firm survived Prohibition and two World Wars.  It finally closed in 1954, still under the Goenner name.

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Associated Breweries