Frederick Miller, his wife Josephine and young son Joseph, migrated to America during unrest in Germany in 1854, and after spending a year in New York City he ventured out to find a new home for his family.

Shortly after his arrival in Milwaukee, he paid $8,000 for the Plank-Road Brewery, which at the time was west of Milwaukee. Because Frederick Miller's first brewery was so far from town, he opened a boarding house next door for his unmarried employees. Photo by Kathy Alexander.