According to the 1900 census records, Charles F. Kropp immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1886. He was actively in business in the Bronx, New York from 1900 to 1912, initially as a brewer and later as a mineral water manufacturer.
Between 1900 and 1908, the NYC general directories classify him as “beer” or “brewer.” In addition, the Chas F Kropp Brewing Co was listed in the 1904 and 1906 NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directories. Later, between 1909 and 1912, he’s classified in the general directories as “waters.”
Over the years, he was listed at the following locations:
- 1901 536 Trinity Avenue
- 1902 to 1903 890 Jackson Avenue
- 1904 to 1905 East 149th Street
- 1906 to 1912 524 Robbins Avenue
In 1905 Kropp’s home address was listed as 524 Robbins, so Kropp was associated with the Robbins Avenue address from 1905 to 1912. He apparently passed away in 1913 or 1914. The 1914 directory listed Kropp’s wife, Barbara, as a widow.
Robbins Avenue has subsequently been renamed Jackson Avenue and 524 Jackson Avenue is a small one story structure that includes a garage door opening at street level. It looks too new to have been used by the Kropp business.
I’ve found a total of three bottles, all embossed with the Robbins Avenue address. Each of them has a tooled crown finish and fits the 1905 to 1912 time frame when Kropp was at that address. They are 8 oz so I’m guessing they contained mineral water as opposed to beer. This probably puts them at the later end of the time frame.