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The Historic Olympia Brewery

6/29/2015

3 Comments

 
  Being transplanted to the Olympia area in 1978 from Cleveland, Ohio, I couldn't count the numerous times our family would entertain visitors with a tour of the Olympia Brewery.  The tours would make my sister and I roll our eyes as we knew we would have to wait patiently until the end of the tour for our family to reward both of us with a box of beer cookies for cooperating with them and for not wandering off the instructed tour areas.  Unknowingly at the time there was another vacant facility just down below which was a forgotten conclusion as the place didn't have the gift shop and the adults couldn't get their exclusive tap only Olympia Dark beer at the end of the tour.  The Original Brewhouse would only be the place you could see across the river as we would be basking in the mist of the Tumwater Falls where the Deschutes river meets up with Capitol Lake.
  As brew town became more of a ghost town with the departure of Miller Brewing, which took over operations of the Olympia Brewery, I became intrigued by the history of the Historic Brewhouse.  A place that was a foregone conclusion as a kid now only made me want to dig deep into the roots of its origins (from a visual aspect).  Existing photos which are prominently displayed at local businesses gave me only small glimpses of the inside.  It would only seem like urban legend talk at a local bar when people would talk about what the inside of the Brewhouse looked like, but had only their own visual memories to convey.  
  Being a photographer, there was nothing more than I wanted than to photograph the inside of the Historic Brewhouse.  Having a trailhead and railroad tunnel under my house that navigated to the Historic Brewery (en route to a local watering hole), I would constantly take the walk with my camera only to find that it was sealed up pretty good with no possible access inside.  The persistent walk would soon pay off as I took a friend from Milwaukee down there for a tour of the perimeter......(en route to that same watering hole).  Much to our surprise, there was an open door which we both decided this was our one time to beg for forgiveness as oppose to ask for permission.  We were in...We explored and we took photos.
  Between the time of my first shoot of the inside of the Brewhouse I was invited to take some recent photos again.  I also became educated on the history of the Brewhouse and learned of its bloodline through families of the community.  The ties to it are still strong through family members who's ancestors help build and were employed there.   Over time, these photos have sat in my archives all while  the interest in restoration of the Brewhouse have surfaced.  The Olympia brewery and the Historic Brewhouse still remain the identity of Tumwater, WA.  We all anxiously await for the possibilities to arise on restoring such great history.  I hope you enjoy and also continue to show great support in the future for such an iconic part of our community history.  That being said......Enjoy the photos.


  
  
  
3 Comments
James Bowers
7/24/2019 09:08:33 am

Love this! Beer Cookies! Follow-up with current mothballed brewery perhaps?

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Private Wisconsin link
3/30/2021 05:07:16 pm

Great post thankyouu

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Farmington Hills Home Staging link
9/18/2022 06:30:29 pm

Great reading your bloog post

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