PROHIBITION AND THE YEARS TO FOLLOW
J. Rieger & Co. continued to thrive until the 18th Amendment was passed in 1919 which would make illegal the production, sale and transport of intoxicating liquors. Alexander faced a forced shutdown effective January 1, 1920. In December 1919, just like so many breweries and distilleries across the country, Alexander reluctantly shut the doors of J. Rieger & Co.
The Rieger family sold The Rieger Hotel shortly after Prohibition began. The building subsequently changed hands and names many times over the years, but retained the name “Rieger” carved in marble on the very top of the building. Shortly after closing J. Rieger & Co., Alexander Rieger and his son Nathan opened a bank named the Home Trust Co. in Kansas City. Sometime around the 1950s, the original J. Rieger & Co. building was unfortunately razed to make way for a parking lot. The Rieger family stayed in the banking business for many years, an industry that continued to run in the family’s blood until the 1980s, the same decade Andy Rieger, Jacob Rieger’s great-great-great grandson, was born in Kansas City.