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Property Features
Hilgerman was the owner of the Rhinelander Brewery.[A]
919 Arbutus Street Otto and Augusta Hilgermann House
This two-and-one-half-story brick Queen Anne house was built for Otto and Augusta Hilgermann in 1897 (Alman I. Lord, "Industrial Review of Rhinelander, Wis.," 1898, p. 10). The house features a three-story, polygonal corner tower; and Stick style front and side porches with spindled friezes. Otto Hilgermann (1845-1927) was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1868. He worked first in Chicago, and later in a furniture factory in Minneapolis. Hilgermann came to Rhinelander in December 1893, and founded the Rhinelander Brewing Company (George Jones, editor, History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties, 1924, pp. 133 and 281). He was president and general manager of the brewery until 1914, when he was succeeded by J. M. Baker (Wisconsin State Gazetteers). Hilgermann was also a stockholder in the Rhinelander Refrigerator Company, and the Rhinelander Mutual Telephone Company. At
one time, the brewery was connected to the house through a tunnel, and a pipe in the basement brought beer into the house. Following Otto Hilgermann's death in 1927, the house remained a part of his estate until at least 1930. Webster A. Brown, son of Rhinelander's founder, Anderson W. Brown, lived in the house from at least 1930 until at least 1936. Webster and his brother, Luther, were partners in the Brown Land and Lumber Company (founded circa 1913), and the Brown Timber Company (established circa 1919). Both companies were still in business in 1927 (Rhinelander City Directories). The house has been in commercial use since at least 1990. The Hilgermann House is an very good local example of a Queen Anne residence, and retains excellent integrity. It is also one of the few brick Queen Anne residences in Rhinelander; the other notable examples are frame.
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