Olympia Brewing Company - Tumwater, Washington 1972

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Olympia Brewing Company issued in 1972. This historic document was printed by the North Pacific Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of a small waterfall, with a horseshoe over the top of it. This item has the printed signatures of the Company's President and Secretary and is over 39 years old.


Certificate Vignette



The first well in Olympia was drilled in 1895. The city used Watershed Park, known historically as Moxlie Creek, and surrounding artesian wells as its water source from 1913 to the late the 1930s, and in 1949 the city's water operation was moved to McAllister Springs.

One of the most notable uses of artesian water was by the Olympia Brewing Company. Founder Leopold Schmidt, a Montana brewer, made Olympia famous with his simple slogan: "It's the water." Olympia beer's purity, rare flavor and light, sparkling qualities made Olympia Brewery an overnight success.

It was founded in 1894 as the Capital Brewing Company by Leopold F. Schmidt. After establishing itself in the Far West, the company expanded to the booming gold rush towns of Alaska. In 1901, it effected facility expansions in Washington and Oregon - and was renamed the Olympia Brewing Company. The company was nearly wrecked by state prohibition in 1916, pushing the economies of Tumwater and Olympia into a minor depression. However, it sprang from Prohibition in 1933 with a new, thoroughly modern brewing plant.

It is now owned and operated by Miller Brewing Company