H. Lieber Company Building

Herman(n) Lieber, a German immigrant to Indianapolis, founded a bookbinding business and stationery store in 1854, one year after his arrival in the United States.

In 1863, Herman, his brother Peter, and their friend Charles Mayer purchased the Gack & Biser Brewing Company and renamed it the P. Lieber Brewing Company.  He was also in the lumber business, and when the manufacture of picture frames and mouldings outgrew the space available in the store, the H. Lieber Co. built a factory for their manufacture at 800 Madison Avenue.  The factory was constructed alongside the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & Saint Louis Railroad (P C C & S L RR) tracks for the easy delivery of lumber and glass. The building was demolished in the late 1990s and is now the site of a mixed-use development. More information about Lieber, his company, and his support of the Hoosier Group, a group of impressionist artists, is available at https://historicindianapolis.com/hi-mailbag-h-lieber-company/

Photo: Indiana Historical Society, dated 1910