This is a fun collection of material from the Cointreau distillery that operated in Pennington from 1942 through 1967. These include colorful liqueur labels, collections of mini-bottles, and photos including a 1960s staff photo with names. These are all thanks to the Jamieson family, whose grandparents lived next to the Cointreau plant and worked there.
Cointreau is an iconic French orange liqueur produced in France since 1875. The company set up a manufacturing plant in Pennington in 1942, located in the buildings at the current Straube Center, on West Franklin Avenue off Route 31 in Pennington. The plant had a major fire in 1967, and the company then moved to Lawrenceville.
The collection also includes two booklets produced by the Straube Center that detail the history of the site. It was first used as a foundry, and then for briquettes, military goods, candy, furniture, liqueurs, and cosmetics.
- Browse the Cointreau labels and other images in the Image Gallery
- Browse the Straube Center booklets in the Document Collection
Cointreau Label Images
These are two collections of Cointreau labels, for a wide variety of spirits including fruit and spice flavored brandy and liqueurs.
The first set are explicitly marked as “Pennington, N. J.” The second set feature a distinctive pair of colored stripes.
Cointreau Mini-Bottle Collection Images
These are two sets of five Cointreau mini-bottles in cardboard packaging. These are “A Collection of Cointreau Cordials & Liqueurs” in a wide variety of flavors. These also are explicitly marked as “Pennington, N. J.”
Cointreau Factory Staff Photo
This wonderful photo shows the Cointreau staff at the Pennington office, around the mid 1960s. It also includes a sheet with the names of the people pictured.
Cointreau Site Images
The Cointreau site in Pennington was on West Franklin Avenue off Route 31, now the Straube Center.
The 1960s aerial image shows the neighboring property adjacent to Route 31, then a farm, with part of the Cointreau property behind. The 1967 aerial photo shows the fire that caused major damage to the property.
The Straube Center
The Straube Center today is an office complex consisting of a new building and several renovated buildings from the old Cointreau distillery.
It was founded in 1976 by Win Straube, also as a home for his company, Pegasus International Corporation, which was a licensor and seller of American technology overseas. The property then consisted of 9.5 acres and had eleven buildings.
In addition to the companies that occupied the office spaces, the Straube Center also was home to the Montessori School of Pennington, and now hosts the Cambridge School.
The south side of the property off Broemel Place was later made available as the location of the Pennington Post Office. The adjacent property on the west side, along Route 31 north of Broemel Place, is now the Shoppes at Pennington.
Straube Center History Documents
Straube organizations published two helpful booklets that cover the story of Win Straube back to Germany, describe the Straube Center concept, and detail the history of Pennington and the site. The history provided here comes from these publications.
- Read the Straube Center Limited Collector’s Edition (PDF)
By Donna Amick and Ronnie Fielding, Pegasus Publications, 1982, 49 pp.
Illustrated with historic photos of the site
- Read At the Right Place (PDF)
By Virginia Persing and Donna Amick, Straube Foundation, Inc., 1996, 70 pp.
Illustrated with artworks of the Straube Center
Straube Center Site History
The Straube Center / Cointreau site began in 1900 as the Pennington Foundry and Heater Company. It then was used to manufacture coal briquettes around 1912, by the Peerless Insulated Wire and Cable Company to manufacture electrical wire starting in 1917, and by Scharf Brothers, Inc. to manufacture hard candy starting in 1938. Cointreau operated the distillery from 1942 to 1967, followed briefly by a cosmetics company in 1971. The Straube Center then took over the site in 1976.
Timeline
- 1900 – Pennington Foundry and Heater Company, Joseph Schiller
Enoch Knowles sold Block 4, Lot 2, 8-acre parcel of land
Less than a year later sold additional 1.55 acres of land
Later the Thatcher Furnace Company - 1905 – Union Boiler Company – Continued operating foundry until c. 1912
- c1912? – J. D. Robeson – Coal briquettes – Rented to a chemist J. D. Robeson
Manufactured molasses byproduct called “ligone”
Used as a binder for powdered coal briquettes used as fuel in stoves and furnaces
[Note: There was a Jacob S. Robeson in Pennington in this period who filed a series of patents on binding processes for briquettes and for road construction] - c1914-18 – World War I – Robeson manufactured for the war effort – foul smell
- 1917 – Peerless Insulated Wire and Cable Company – Electrical Wire
Owned by Mr. Cook, managed by Pennington resident, Wilson Drake
Produced patented copper electrical wire “Randall wire” / “fiberclad wire”
Copper wire, wrapped in braided cotton, run through vat of tar for weatherproofing
Multiple patents – e.g., Cook & Bradt / Peerless, Insulated wire and the method or art of making same, US 1577179, 1926-03-16 - 1929 – Closed – Company sold to General Cable Company of Perth Amboy
- 1930s – Depression – Unused
- 1938 – Scharf Brothers, Inc. – Candy – Hard, individually wrapped candy
150 employees, 90% from Pennington
1940 – Moved out – Complaints of odor from waste water; Bankrupt 1941 - 1941 – Owned by Pennington Holding Company
- 1942 – Rented for World War II war effort – Storage of prefabricated hospitals
- 1943 – Cointreau Ltd. – After-dinner liqueurs – Jacques Cointreau
Discussions since 1941 – Pennington was a “dry” town
50 employees, 85 – 100 before Christmas - 1967 – Fire destroys Cointreau buildings
Cointreau completes already-planned move to Lawrenceville for more space - Abandoned
- 1971 – Cosmetica – Manufactured cosmetics for resale by large dealerships
Bankrupt two months after moved in - 1973 – National State Bank (later CoreStates) foreclosed mortgage on the property
- 1974 – Win Straube purchased Pegasus International Corporation
Licensor and seller of American technology overseas - 1976 – Win Straube founds Straube Center office complex with Pegasus
Purchases 9.5-acre parcel of land, with 11 buildings
- Browse the Cointreau labels and other images in the Image Gallery
- Browse the Straube Center booklets in the Document Collection
We welcome additional information and artifacts related to Cointreau and the Straube Center in Pennington .
ETS leased part of the property as a furniture warehouse. I have no idea for how long, but I was there many times from late 1980 into 1981.