Levin, a native of Bahn, Prussia, was lauded in the April 1, 1876, Arizona Citizen thusly:

"The Park Brewery establishment and surrounding grounds, belonging to Mr. A. Levin, although a purely private enterprise, is a great adornment and a credit to Tucson, and for natural and artificial attractions, without doubt stands unrivaled in this Territory."

By way of contrast, move forward eight years to June 1884 to a commentary in the Arizona Daily Star:

'The Park' under its management has outlived its usefulness ... the nightly consorting of the vile and the vicious within its precincts, has made its name the synonym of iniquity."

Makes one wonder if the two newspapers are even talking about the same establishment.

Odd, too, is the fact that a year earlier, June 7, 1883, a Star reporter wrote: "Mr. Levin is deserving of much credit for his efforts at amusing the public. His entertainments are respectable and chaste throughout, and no disreputable characters are allowed on the ground."

Two explanations for the about-face, both plausible, come to the fore. Levin was, by 1884, a city councilman, and the two papers were (as they generally are now) on opposite sides of the political fence. In 1884, Levin clearly did not have the backing of the Star.

A second possibility: A rival amusement park, Carrillo's Gardens, located southwest of today's Tucson Convention Center, was in full flower by this point and was nearly three times the size of Levin's enterprises. Perhaps Levin's amusements were overshadowed by those of Leopoldo Carrillo.

Despite the occasional bad press, however, a man who produced and offered cold lager in a thirsty desert community like Tucson would always have his supporters.

The late Don Schellie, a long-time Citizen columnist who unearthed the April 1876 article about Levin's Park for one of his columns, added the following quote from the reporter of that era, who was unabashedly impressed with both Levin and the park:

"And our eyes, turning from the dust laden streets and brown bare mud wall, will rest with pleasure upon this beautiful attraction, the result of long and fatiguing labor, patient care and industry, and large expenditure of money, by an enterprising and praiseworthy citizen."

Historian C.L. Sonnichsen described Levin as a "fat, jolly German" who liked to entertain his friends with good food and drink. He was born March 19, 1834. He arrived in Tucson in 1869, and in partnership with J. Goldtree launched the Pioneer Brewery.

He bought out Goldtree's interest in 1870, and purchased Wheat's Saloon, arranging for music and dancing. The same year, he took over the Hodges Hotel on Main Street. Those enterprises financed his establishment of the three-acre park "west of town" and "at the end of Pennington."

Over the years he added a dance hall, restaurant, an opera house that would seat 2,000, a shooting gallery, archery range, an icehouse, a bath house, riding stables and a bowling alley.

When the first Southern Pacific train made its grand entry into Tucson on March 20, 1880, (causing consternation among local officials by arriving an hour ahead of schedule), Levin's Park was the site selected for a welcoming banquet.

According to the Arizona Mining Index of Feb. 6, 1886, Levin traded his brewery for the Mint Saloon.

Levin was married to Zenona Molina, of a prominent family in Sonora, and was a brother-in-law of another immigrant Tucsonan who had gained prominence, John A. Spring. Though his ancestors were Jewish, Levin adopted his wife's Catholic faith.

He apparently retained some enemies into the late part of his life. An 1887 Star story indicated he had hurriedly left town after having written $600 worth of bad bank notes. Another indicated he was living in Mexico City, working as a brewer.

Yet another story, carried by The Associated Press, erroneously reported that Levin had been shot following a disagreement.

In fact, Levin died in Tucson Sept. 29, 1891, apparently of heart problems, at his home. He was 58.

Levin's son, Henry, served as city assessor in 1892 and Pima County assessor in 1896, and previously had served as deputy postmaster in Nogales. Levin's daughter, Sara, was married to Frederick Ronstadt, who established a successful blacksmithing, wagon-making and hardware enterprise in Tucson.

Their daughter, Levin's granddaughter, was Luisa Espinel, who earned international acclaim as a singer and performer. Espinel was the aunt of another Tucson performer of international reputation, Linda Ronstadt.