Bomberger's Distillery

Bomberger's Distillery, more recently Michter's Distillery, is a non operating distillery facility that was, at the end of the twentieth century, believed to be the oldest remaining such building in the United States. The distillery closed in 1989. Although there are whiskey products currently on the market using the Bomberger's and Michter's brand names, they are more recently introduced products that have no direct connection to the old distillery. The complex, which is located near Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, represented the transformation of whiskey distilling from an agricultural enterprise into a large scale industry. The surviving still house, warehouse, and jug house date from about 1840, but the site has a documented history of spirit production since 1753.

In 1753, John and Michael Shenk, Swiss Mennonite farmers, began distilling rye whiskey at the site. John Shenk's son in law, Rudolph Meyer, acquired the distillery and another relative, John Kratzer, ran the business from 1827 to about 1860. Several of the buildings date to Kratzer's tenure. About 1860, Abraham Bomberger, a Pennsylvania Dutchman who had ties to the Shenk family, purchased the distillery from the Kratzer family. With Prohibition the distillery closed in 1919. Ephraim Sechrist bought the distillery in 1920, but did not operate it until 1934 after Prohibition ended, selling it to Louis Forman in 1942. Forman sold the distillery soon after he was drafted for service in World War II, but repurchased it in 1950 after two other owners. sold it in 2011 to John Barry of JJC Investments. Since 2004, whiskeys, including bourbon, rye, and a version of the Michter's Original Sour Mash brand, made in Kentucky, have been sold under the Michter's label, now owned by Chatham Imports, Inc. The company has built a new distillery in Louisville, also known as the Michter's Distillery, with spirit production having commenced. In 2014, Heritage Spirits began using the Bomberger's Distillery brand name on a small production blend of straight whiskeys sourced from other distilleries. The blending and bottling of the new brand is done at the Thistle Finch Distillery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As of October 2017, the company built and operates a distillery in Lititz, Pennsylvania, eight miles south of the original location, operating under the name of Stoll & Wolfe Distillery.