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Tumwater's Old Brewhouse
| On May 6, 2006 the Capital Community celebrated the 100th birthday of the Old Brewhouse and the Tumwater City Council proclaimed the next twelve months as "The Year of the Old Brewhouse". |
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Olympia Brewing Company Brewhouse c. 1910. Photo courtesy of Henderson House Museum, City of Tumwater - HHM #150 |
BACKGROUND
In 1906 the Olympia Brewing Company, which was owned by Leopold Schmidt, constructed what is now called the "Old Brewhouse". It is six-stories tall of red brick, elegant arches, copper roof with Tenino sandstone trim. The Old Brewhouse served as the proud centerpiece of the Schmidt family brewing operation until Prohibition.
The Old Brewhouse has long been associated with the Olympia Brewery which was the Capital Community's largest private employer for a significant part of the past century. The importance of the structure was recognized in 1978 when the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It is seen by tens of thousands of people every day from Interstate 5 and is one of the Capital Community's most iconic structures. The Old Brewhouse influenced the design of dozens of new buildings in the region including Tumwater's City Hall, Fire Station, and the Timberland Regional Library in Tumwater.
THE BREWHOUSE TODAY
Over the years the Old Brewhouse fell into disrepair, with little maintenance ocurring. In 2004 the structure was listed as one of "Washington State's Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties" by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
The City of Tumwater has taken a number of actions designed to protect the Old Brewhouse. These have included adopting Comprehensive Plan goals and policies to: "protect designated … national landmarks" and "encourage the development of the Tumwater Historic Commercial Zoning District." In the mid-1990's the City adopted special zoning and shoreline designation for the Old Brewhouse to encourage its redevelopment.
Since 1993, Tumwater has commissioned four studies to help determine the redevelopment potential of the Old Brewhouse with the most recent study on its infrastructure needs completed in 2005. That study, Tumwater Historic District Infrastructure Analysis - Summary of Findings, is available from the City of Tumwater website.
Questions regarding the Old Brewhouse can be directed to:
Steven W. Morrison, staff
Tumwater Historic Preservation Commission
360-956-7575 info@trpc.org
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