Carl Corper

Following his school years, he studied the science of beer-brewing, and subsequently qualified to be a brew-master.

At the age of 18 he went to England, then to Canada, and in 1869 arrived in Chicago where he took a position with the J. Huck Brewery. Later he traveled through the USA visiting most of the big cities. In 1874 he returned to Germany for two years only to again come back permanently to Chicago in 1976.

At that time he took a position as foreman in the Michael Brand Brewery on Elston Avenue where he remained until 1884. He then went into business for himself, building a brewery at Webster Avenue and Ward Street. The brewery was sold to Birk Brothers in 1890.

Two years later he founded the Carl Corper brewing and Malting Company and built a new brewery at the corner of 39th St and Union Avenue. In the meantime he had been investing in Chicago real estate, mainly corner sites.

In 1898 he sold his brewery to the United Breweries Company, as did many local brewers at that time. However, this undertaking did not succeed as anticipated and Mr. Corper decided to explore other fields of business. Thus, in that pursuit, he voyaged to Hawaii in 1900, where he looked into the matter of establishing a railroad.

That year he founded the U. Cona and Kau Railroad Company, of which he is president. This railroad will run for 100 miles along the coast and will be completed in about two years.

While awaiting the furtherance of the railroad project, Mr. Corper built another brewery in Chicago which operates under the name of Carl Corper Brewing Company.

In 1880 he married Philippina Knell. They live in a brownstone residence at 3736 Grand Boulevard.