For 41 years, from 1900 to 1941, the site where Mulberry Station Brewing Company sits was one of the last stops for Sacramento Northern Railway’s electric railway service that connected Chico with Oakland via Sacramento. In 1962, a 20-lane bowling alley was built on the site, and some years later, the 6,000-square-foot building underwent its first transformation when it was converted to an auto parts store. In 2019, Roland Allen and Allen Gross “stumbled” on the old building, which was just six blocks from Allen’s home on Mulberry Street.
The building provided the perfect location and inspiration for a name for the brewery the two men wanted to open. “We hadn’t come up with a name, but had talked about how the location might dictate it and it did,” said Allen. “We pay homage to the rail history of the location with photos and paintings of old electric trollies and railroad spikes for tap handles.
” Roland Allen, Mulberry Station Brewing Company co-owner and brewmaster, stirs the mash, a mix of water and grains, for a batch of his craft beer on Wednesday, August 7, 2024 in Chico, California. (Nicole Crabtree/Contributed) Mike Cain, executive chef, tosses the dough for a specialty pizza in the kitchen of Mulberry Station Brewing Company on Saturday, July 27, 2024 in Chico, California. (Nicole Crabtree/Contributed) Roland Allen, Mulberry Station Brewing Company co-owner and brewmaster, stirs the mash, a mix of water and grains, for a batch of his craft beer on W.