Portner, Robert

Biography

In 1861, with the outbreak of the Civil War, Portner traveled from New York to Alexandria, VA to witness first-hand the war. It was here he opened a grocery with Frederick Recker, called Portner & Recker. The store flourished throughout the war due to the steady occupation of surrounding forts by Union troops. In 1862, the two men, along with Edward Abner and Gotley Kaercher, began brewing their own beer to overcome the difficulty of procuring it for their store. By the end of the war, the partnerships had dissolved and Portner was left with the brewery. By 1891, he had expanded his small brewery into the largest brewery in the south, shipping as far as Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to brewing, Portner was involved in banking organizations, a ship yard, and social clubs in Alexandria; insurance companies and real estate in Washington, D.C.; and real estate & construction in Manassas, Virginia. Some of his more notable business ventures include being the Vice-President of the National Capital Brewing Company in Washington, establishing the Capital Construction Company in Washington as a way to build apartment buildings while avoiding unions, building the impressive, 7-story, Beaux-Arts-inspired Portner Flats in Washington, building the Prince William Hotel in Manassas, and owning the Portner Brownstone Company in Manassas. The quarry, originally known as the Mayfield Brownstone Quarry, began operation in 1868. In the early-1890's, John R. Tillett bought the quarry and within a few years, Portner had bought into the company, only to buy out Tillett and rename the company the Portner Brownstone Company in 1900. The stone from this quarry would be used in the construction of many of the buildings in Manassas, as well as Portner's own summer home, Annaburg. Portner's most notable accomplishment were two inventions, a beer-cooling process and an air-purifying system, both for his brewery. When Annaburg was built, he combined the two inventions into one machine that would pump ice water through copper pipes installed in the walls of Annaburg, effectively making it what is believed to be the first air conditioned home of this type in the country. When Robert Portner died in 1906, his estate was valued at approximately $1.9 - $3 million dollars in both personal and real estate. After his death, his widow continued to live in Annaburg until her death in 1912.