BEIER BAKERY
Dixon was home to one of the finest bakeries in Northern Illinois
many years ago. Beier's Bakery was in operation here for more than 90
years.
Rheinhold Beier started his bakery business in a building located
on the corner of Depot Avenue and 6th Street in 1869. One year
earlier he had arrived in Dixon from Erfort, Germany. He had learned
his trade as a young man in Germany. Rheinhold did the baking,
selling and delivered his produced goods in a basket.
Mr. Beier began his bakery business with the conviction that
quality products, honestly made and sold, should be of primary
concern to his business. As the business grew, the building became
too small and it was necessary to expand in 1877 to a location at 126
First Street. In 1844 a wagon route was established and operated by
Rheinhold's son, William. Another son, Otto helped his father in the
bakery, learning the business. In 1895 Mr. Beier turned the bakery
business over to his sons to operate.
By 1899 additional space was once again required as the demand
for baked goods was increasing. A building on Hennepin Avenue was
built at the rear of their present location on First Street. Also at
this time a second wagon route was established to handle all of the
deliveries. Otto Beier bought his brother's interest in the bakery
business in 1906.
A wagon route was now added to Sterling during the year. By 1910
Beier Bakery was among the pioneers who began wrapping its bread and
thus protecting and retaining the freshness and flavor of the baked
bread.
The completion of the Lincoln Highway had an impact on Beier's
Bakery and the surrounding area. With business still expanding, now
it was possible for truck delivery service to neighboring towns to
begin. More paved roads and highways were being built connecting
Dixon with other communities. The decision was made in 1921 to build
a new, larger building to accommodate the rapid increase in the
bakery business.
On July 27, 1923 the new plant at 107 Hennepin Avenue was
formally opened. The new plant now boasted of over 26,000 square feet
and forty- three employees. Beier Bakery products were available to
customers in eighty-six cities and towns which were served by three
railroads and eleven delivery trucks. The Hennepin Avenue plant was
now capable of producing 24,000 loaves of bread daily.
The third generation of the Beier Family, Arthur and George,
assumed control from Otto, their father, in June of 1925. Sales
continued to grow and in 1938 property on Ottawa and River Street was
acquired for yet another new plant. At the grand opening of this new
site in October of 1939, visitors had an opportunity to tour the
$50,000 facility, and those attending could see the most scientific
system of bread production known in the industry at that time.
By the end of 1939, a fleet of seventeen delivery trucks and now,
eighty-one employees provided bakery products to Northern Illinois.
One of the favorite products was a bread named "Butter-Krust." The
advertising slogan which was used stated, "Baked Fine Since '69", is
remembered by many area residents of Lee County.
Delivery trucks would leave the bakery at 2 o'clock in the
morning to begin their routes. In order to have products ready for
early morning deliveries, some workers began their shift at midnight.
Ingredients needed included more than one and a half million pounds
of flour and some seventeen tons of sugar for various breads, rolls
and pastries per year. Over 100,000 yards of wax paper and cellophane
were needed per year to wrap the bread and pastries.
Flour, milk and yeast were mixed in a dough machine which had a
capacity of making enough dough for 800 loaves of bread at one time.
After the dough had set for about 5 hours, it was placed in pans and
left to rise again in compartments where the temperature was kept at
100 degrees and the humidity at 95 per cent. The pans were then
placed in an oven on a traveling tray and later emerging from the
oven as golden loaves of freshly baked bread. Anyone who remembers
walking or driving by Beier's Bakery when the bread was baking can
attest to the glorious aroma in the air.
Beier's Bakery continued at the Ottawa Avenue location until 1962
when it was closed. George Beier had continued in charge of the
business until his death in 1952. His widow, Mildred, managed the
bakery business until 1959 when it was sold to Norval Buros.
From its simple beginning in 1869 when Rheinhold Beier baked 40
loaves of bread on that first day, to its development as a major
industry, Beier Bakery will be remembered for its long history with
the City of Dixon, Lee County and the surrounding areas of Northern
Illinois.
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