The historical Huber-Carlson Building
The historic 1885 Huber-Carlson Building
In 1995 Elbert County secured State Register of Historic Properties status for the 1890 Huber-Carlson Building (239 Main Street, 5EL.295), which the county-owned briefly. In 1998, Elizabeth citizens and their leaders moved to encourage the preservation of their heritage of enduring buildings in downtown and on adjacent historic residential blocks. The town passed a preservation ordinance and created its Historic Advisory Board that year, conducted a historic-properties survey in 1999, and soon designated several Main Street historic buildings as local landmarks.
Painter and sculptor George Carlson bought the venerable Huber/Woodmen of the World/DeWitt Building at 239 Main Street in 1971 and established his living quarters upstairs and studio downstairs with a few alterations to the east storefront and side elevations. This is the only building in Elizabeth currently listed on the State Register of Historic Properties.
Elizabeth, CO in 1885
This view looking west across Running Creek toward the 3-year-old community of Elizabeth shows several buildings still serving the town today. On the far left is the 1882 Community Building; to its north (right) along Main Street is the 1882 saltbox-roof railroad Section House; behind (west of) the dark-painted D&NO depot is probably Frank Huber’s 1882 residence, the first on the townsite; on Main Street below the lone tree and one-room school on the far hillside is the 1884 Cort Brothers Store (now part of the Elizabeth Mercantile moved to 207 Main Street); the 1882 Elizabeth Hotel is the large white building on the far right. Elbert County Historical Society
From historic to microbrewery
In 2017, the building was acquired by the Elizabeth Brewing Company and underwent renovations to convert the first-floor into a microbrewery including our 5 barrel mash ton, three 5 barrel fermenters, and one 5 barrel bright tank. The taproom is located upstairs and the charm of the historical building remains.
In order to make a brewing area suitable for our equipment and wet zone, we removed original wood flooring. When we demoed the flooring downstairs we repurposed the materials to create our tables. But we had to go even further, removing the floor joists to pour the concrete. Those floor joists became the bar top in the taproom upstairs.
Accessibility
Your comfort is our priority. Our tap room is located upstairs in the historical building. The stairs to access the taproom are historical too, and might be a bit steep for some. You can use the outdoor stairs to access the taproom with more ease. We have accessible parking available in the rear of the building and ramps to access our beer garden, patio, and lower level. Just ring the bell for service and one of our brew-tenders will come down to help you out.