Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company

About

The Saddlery Building was built in 1881 by Mr. J. Rubelman of Muscatine, Iowa, who decided that Des Moines, with its two rivers and 13 railways, would be advantageous to his thriving saddlery company. He was right, and ran a successful saddle, harness, and leather works for almost 20 years. Since that time, the building has also been home to a shoe maker, rubber company, stove manufacturer, glove company, the Krispy Kone Company and the Kaplan Hat Company (which was also the name of the restaurant once located on the first floor). After the flood of 1993, during which the building housed 19 feet of water, the ground level was left vacant until 1996 when Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company started to move in its brewing equipment.