Beer and brewing were an essential part of Houston's history from the start. Long before there were parties on the South Deck, the site of the Academic Building was the property of the American Brewing Association with a brewery, ice factory, cold storage facility, and hotel.
As early as the late 1840s, brewing alcohol became part of the local economy. Peter Gabel began the city's first commercial brewery, perhaps as early as 1849, with another immigrant, Henry Schulte. The two businessmen became wealthy and contributed to the German culture of early Houston. There were three breweries by the late 19th century, but by 1896, all three were out of business, upon the death of Gabel.
American Brewing Association, led by President Adolphus Busch, entered the scene in
1893 with the goal to build "the largest brewery in Texas." Its main competitor was
Houston Ice and Brewing, which began producing beer the same year. This plant would
be known as Magnolia Brewery and eventually expand and encompass both sides of Buffalo
Bayou, near Washington Avenue and Franklin and Milam streets. By 1913, the Magnolia
Complex alone covered four city blocks and had increased its capacity to 175,000 barrels
through a series of additions that included building a span over Buffalo Bayou. 
With Prohibition, local breweries began to convert to ice factories, but the sale of ice could not match the profits of beer. Magnolia Brewery eventually ceased to exist because of financial difficulties and two subsequent floods, which destroyed most of the complex. The American Brewing Association building eventually met a similar fate. According to an excavation report for the Academic Building, "The 1935 flood damaged brewery buildings, and in 1948 a brewery warehouse burned. A car parking lot was later built at the site."
Completed in 1997, UHD's Academic Building provides the university with additional classrooms, an auditorium, large meeting rooms, dining facilities, and breathtaking views of downtown Houston.
Citations and Photo Citations and References (in order of appearance)
Crocker, Ronnie. (2012). Houston Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Bayou City (First edition.). History Press. UH-Downtown. Newsfax, 1996.
American Brewing Association (1911). Citation: MSS0145-105, Houston Public Library, Houston History Research Center.
Houston Ship Channel Scene (Showing Brewery where Academic Building is located). Citation: MSS1248-2510, Houston Public Library, Houston History Research Center.
Academic Building Under Construction. Citation: Provided by UHD Archives.
View of the Academic Building from Buffalo Bayou. Citation: Provided by UHD Archives.
Aerial View of Downtown Houston, 1931 (It shows the Magnolia Brewery and the other warehouses where the Academic Building and Washington lot is). Citation: MSS1248-6475, Houston Public Library, Houston History Research Center.
Sanborn Map 1907 Volume 2 Sheet 4. Citation: Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.