I recently got to satisfy a curiosity twelve years in the making- I finally got to go inside the old Illinois Brewing Co. building in Socorro, now the Hammel Museum run by the Socorro Historical Society. The town has a fine collection of old buildings, despite a recent and rather alarming trend of bulldozing some of them, and the old brewery is one of my favorites. I make a point to drive by the building whenever I'm in Socorro, which is fairly often. The reason it has taken me twelve years to gaze upon the interior of this edifice is that it is open a scant 12 times a year, on the first Saturday of each month. The Hammel Museum is run with limited resources by volunteers, and named for the Hammel family who used to own it.
In 1848 a man by the name of Jacob Hammel came to America from Germany with his friend Eberhard Anheuser, who wanted to open a brewery in St. Louis with Jacob. Mr. Hammel decided to go it alone across the river in Lebanon, Illinois, while Mr. Anheuser stayed in St. Louis and teamed up with Mr. Busch to found the now famous Anheuser- Busch brewery. In the early 1880's Jacob Hammel's son, William, moved to the Territory of New Mexico for health reasons, and was joined by his brother, Gustav. The two brothers started a brewery in Socorro, changing the name in 1887 from Hammel Bros. & Co. to the Illinois Brewing Co. Also in this year they began making large quantities of ice. In 1912 William Hammel purchased a soft drink franchise which gave them something to do when Prohibition reared its ugly head in 1919 (Booo! Hisss!). William died in 1920, followed by two of his sons shortly thereafter, leaving the remaining son, Clarence, to run things on his own (which he did rather well, apparently). During Prohibition the plant bottled for 7-UP, Nesbitt, Grapette, and was the first bottler of Pepsi in New Mexico. When Prohibition was repealed (Hooray!) Clarence did not go back to brewing the sudsy wonder-beverage of his forefathers due to the age and decrepitude of the brewery's equipment. By the mid- to late- 1950's he had closed up or sold off most of the plant's operations. Clarence Hammel passed away in 1986, leaving the building to the Socorro Historical Society to use as a museum (a swell gift, to be sure).
The museum is open on the first Saturday of each month until 12:30 or 1:00 p.m. Although the museum is small, its contents are varied and intriguing. Within the stony walls are historic local photos, machinery from the brewery, Civil War artifacts, a lavishly bizarre painting (of unknown relevance to the collection), an early gas- powered generator, torturous- looking dental equipment, old badges- including an Indian Scout badge, leg irons, dolls, a 16th century trastero, various bottles spanning the brewery's years, old metal soda and beer signs, and much more. The place is full of neat old stuff, it's dark and dusty (in a pleasing early Smithsonian sort of way), and curiously random in its organization. This is how my house would be if my wife didn't keep interfering with her sunlight, dusting, and famous catch phrase, "You're NOT keeping that in the house!" Available for purchase are postcards, t-shirts, and my favorite, a cd rom containing 735 photographs of the early days of Socorro, Magdalena, San Marcial, and other area towns.
If you find yourself in Socorro on the first Saturday of the month and you have some time, stop by the Hammel Museum. It's an interesting diversion, a great building, and admission is free. I almost forgot to mention there is also a room full of electric trains running through little mountain ranges and passing through tiny towns. Perhaps the easiest way to get there is to head south from the northern freeway exit on California (the main drag) and take a left at the light on Wal Street and then an immediate right onto 6th Street. About a block or so on your left will be the museum.
This can be combined with San Lorenzo Canyon, Datil and Magdalena, or Quebradas.