Throwback Thursday: Hutchinson Cider & Vinegar works
Steve Harmon
Today s installment of Throwback Thursday takes us to the southeast corner of North Poplar Street and East Third Avenue.
After learning the trade at vinegar factories in Chicago, Milwaukee and Kansas City, Herman Benscheidt opened the Wichita Vinegar Works in 1887. Things went so well that he decided to move to Hutchinson in 1902 and build the Hutchinson Cider & Vinegar Works. The factory opened on Sept. 15 that year and turned out all kinds of cider, cider vinegar, apple butter, jelly, horseradish, pickles, and condiments. The press had a capacity of 75 barrels of cider a day.