Newark Prepares for the Departure of the Iconic Anheuser-Busch Eagle Sign
Anheuser-Busch’s 75-year-old Newark brewery is closing. Newark and two other California and New Hampshire locales will lose 475 full-time workers in early 2026. Although employees will be provided jobs elsewhere, the brewery’s shutdown will have a lasting emotional impact.
The Anheuser-Busch eagle sign that has dominated Newark for decades is the most prominent emblem of this transition to residents and travelers. The 34-foot-wide, 15-ton sign, composed of 4,500 feet of neon tubing and 2,000 incandescent bulbs, has long guided cars and passengers near Newark Liberty International Airport. It has marked the brewery’s position and become a city icon.
Anheuser-Busch’s headquarters in St. Louis will house the eagle sign, according to a Goodman North America spokeswoman. Australian-owned Goodman proposes to renovate the brewery property for industrial use, although the red-brick building’s designs are still being reviewed.
A long history surrounds the eagle sign, constructed in 2001 to celebrate the brewery’s 50th anniversary and Budweiser’s 125th. It briefly went dark in 2012 owing to technological faults, prompting an FAA notice because pilots utilized it as a visual guide when approaching the airport. Local historians see the sign as a reminder of Newark’s rich brewing history, which began in the 19th century when dozens of breweries took advantage of the region’s pure water.
The red neon eagle has guided Newark’s South Ward inhabitants and visitors for decades. Its demolition ends a brewery and a civic landmark. Newark City Historian Junius Williams called the departure “the end of an era,” saying that Anheuser-Busch was one of the city’s remaining large-scale breweries, a tribute to Ballantine, Pabst, and Kreuger’s heyday.
The loss of the Anheuser-Busch brewery and its eagle symbol is a nostalgic loss as the city prepares for new investments, including a big film and television studio at South Ward. Like other landmark signs in the region, local authorities and observers term the sign a “roadside attraction”. Drivers, air travelers, and the community who link the eagle with Newark’s industrial legacy will miss it.
The city must balance economic regeneration with local tradition after closing the Newark brewery. The eagle sign’s removal will symbolize the city’s industrial past and future as site plans alter.
Sources:
- Official Anheuser-Busch remarks
- North American Goodman announcements
- Newark City History
- Federal Aviation Administration statements
- Local Newark news archives
