Two Brothers Roundhouse

The roundhouse was constructed in 1856 to serve Aurora on the Chicago & Aurora Railroad (C&A). The C&A built its own maintenance shops to facilitate further expansion of the rail system westward. The shops were also capable of producing new equipment for the rolling stock. The roundhouse was designed by Levi Hull Waterhouse, who designed several important structures in the Aurora vicinity. In 1995, the Aurora City Council voted to allow an investment group led by former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton to purchase the building. The building re-opened in 1996 and hosted a brewpub, restaurant, museum, and open-air pavilion. On May 2, 2011 Two Brothers Brewing Company announced via Facebook and Twitter that they had acquired America's Historical Roundhouse in Aurora Illinois. They opened a restaurant on June 18, 2011, featuring ten of their locally available beers on tap plus an additional two that are exclusive to the establishment. ==Architecture==

The roundhouse portion of the building complex is long with a local limestone exterior and an iron loggia interior. The roundhouse is actually a tetracontagon (40 sides). A steel truss structure supports wood-sheathed steel rafters, covered on the exterior by tar paper. The locomotive shop is attached to the north side and is with two stories. ==References==