Iconic Anheuser-Busch Eagle Sign to Soar from Newark to St. Louis as Brewery Closes

The Anheuser-Busch eagle sign atop the Newark brewery will get dismantled and shipped to St. Louis when the plant closes. The facility has brewed beer for 75 years. Cranes arrived Monday to remove the landmark, which has perched above the building since 2001.

Monday came and went with the sign still up. Workers hit snags. A construction worker at the site spoke about problems during removal but wouldn't say when crews might finish.

"The iconic Anheuser-Busch sign atop the Newark brewery is an important piece of our company's history and we plan to relocate it to our hometown of St. Louis where it will be preserved and enjoyed by visitors for years to come," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said in a statement, per NJ,com.

The brewery sits along Routes 1 & 9. It opened in 1951. The company announced that Newark would close in early 2026, along with facilities in Fairfield, California, and Merrimack, New Hampshire.

Goodman North America announced plans last month to buy the site and redevelop it for other industrial uses. Neither the beer maker nor Goodman North America returned requests for comment.

"Over the last five years we have taken steps to update and modernize our U.S. manufacturing operations, investing nearly $2 billion in our 100 facilities across the country," a company spokesperson said. "We will be shifting production from these three facilities to our other U.S. facilities and these changes will enable us to invest even more in our remaining operations and in our portfolio of growing, industry-leading brands."

The company said all full-time employees at the three plants will be offered positions at other U.S. facilities. Employees who choose not to transfer will receive severance packages.

The 15-ton structure contains 4,500 feet of neon tubing and 2,000 incandescent bulbs. For decades, it has signaled to travelers that they were passing through or arriving in Newark. Robert Sinclair Jr., a spokesman with AAA Northeast, said the sign has become part of what people see when driving through the tri-state area.

"It'll be a little bit sad if (the sign) passes into history," he said. "I'll miss it."