The land on which Olympia Beer was produced was home for many centuries to the Statca'sabsh people, a subgroup of the Coastal Salish Indian groups, whose descendants are members of the tribes now known as Nisqually, Squaxin Island, and Chehalis. The site remains an important historical and cultural site for the Statca'sabsh people.

On this same ground at the mouth of the Deschutes River, the first permanent pioneer settlement in the Puget Sound region was established in 1845. In the 1890s, German-born brewmaster Leopold Schmidt acquired the land that would become the Olympia Brewing Company property. The original four-story brewhouse was part of the group of structures that supported production of Olympia Beer starting in 1896. The Schmidt family sold the brewery to G. Heileman Brewing Co. in 1983. Later, in 1999, the Oly brand was acquired by Pabst Brewing Co. The Tumwater brewery was closed in 2003.

The more modern brewery site south of present-day Custer Avenue comprises 175  acres and three distinct areas: the Knoll, the Valley and the Bluff. Structures in these areas total approximately 800,000 square feet. The historic buildings that housed the first brewing of Olympia Beer, including the Old Brewhouse Tower, are located north of Custer Way.

Historical Timeline of the Brewery Properties

1896 — Leopold Schmidt began brewing and selling Olympia Beer (renamed to Olympia Brewing Company in 1902).

1916 — Prohibition started in Washington State (four years before National Prohibition) and the brewery ceased making beer.

1934 — Following the end of Prohibition, Olympia Brewing Company’s “The Knoll” and “Warehouse” properties were built by the Schmidt family and brewing resumed.

1983 — The Schmidt family sold the brewery to G. Heileman Brewing Co. 

1999 — The Oly brand was acquired by Pabst Brewing Co. and then Miller Brewing Co.

2003 — Miller Brewing Co. closed the Olympia Brewery.

2004 — Miller sold the brewery property for $14 million to All American Bottled Water Corp., a startup company led by L. Eric Whetstone, who planned to bottle water on the property.

2006 — A Chapter 7 bankruptcy case was filed in which creditors who were owed money by All American Bottled Water Corp. forced it into involuntary bankruptcy to try to recover those funds.

2007 — The Benaroya Company, a Seattle-based company, entered a deal to purchase the 120-acre former Olympia Brewery site for $45 million. Benaroya pulled out of the deal after inspecting the property and finding it to be too dilapidated and partly located in a floodplain. 

2011 — The City of Tumwater conducted an extensive community visioning process for the Brewery District.

2013 — As a result of the city's advocacy, the long-obsolete covenant that existed on the site prohibiting the production of alcohol on the site was removed.

2014 — The City of Tumwater adopted the Brewery District Plan along with new zoning and development standards for the district area. Based on extensive community visioning, the plan reflects progress in infrastructure, changes in ownership, the realities of budgets and funding, and evolving priorities for the City and its partners.  The City also adopted the Capitol Boulevard Corridor Plan in 2014.

2015 — Multiple tracts of the brewery properties, including a 22.2-acre parcel with a warehouse and a 7.2-acre chunk with a former office and other buildings were sold Capital Salvage Inc. to Tumwater Development LLC, led by Chandulal Patel.

2016 — Nine groups owned 30 parcels of the former Olympia Brewery.  Owners include private developers, South Sound Bank, LOTT Clean Water Alliance, and the City of Tumwater.

2018 — Part of the brewery complex was heavily damaged in a fire on October 7, 2018. The administration building's south side partially collapsed, and a 3-alarm fire call caused fire units to respond from many neighboring departments.

2019 — About 586 gallons of oil tainted with toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) spilled from a vandalized transformer on the brewery property on Custer Way in February 2019. The oil flowed into storm drains, Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls and the Deschutes River which connects to Capitol Lake. The WA Dept. of Ecology responded to the spill and spent six months cleaning up the spill.

Also in 2019, John Peters and Mike Parsons, developers from Craft District, LLC, broke ground on the Tumwater Craft District. The district was born out of a community vision for a handcrafted space for people, by people. Blending shopping, services, local arts and education, the Craft District features vibrant retail, dining, and event venues.

2020 — The City of Tumwater updated the Brewery District Plan.

2021 — WA Dept. of Ecology billed Tumwater Development LLC $11.37 million for the 2019 oil spill. Two years later, a settlement was reached in which Tumwater Development LLC agreed to pay $2.3 million in penalties.

2023 — The EPA and WA Dept. of Ecology awarded grants to the City of Tumwater for environmental investigation of former Olympia Brewery properties to gain a better understanding of the type and extent of potential contamination from industrial activities.  This work is a step toward removing barriers to development.

2024 — Environmental investigation of the brewery properties began following selection of the team.

2025 — The City of Tumwater began work on a “Planned Action EIS” which is an upfront analysis of potential environmental impacts that allows for streamlined review of subsequent development proposals.