Then and Now: The Olympia Brewery Fountain
Near a very busy intersection in the Olympia-Tumwater area sits the base of what was once an oft-photographed icon of a bygone era in local history. Located at the site of the old Olympia Brewing Company headquarters is the base of a fountain that once greeted not only visitors coming in from Interstate 5 and Highway 101, but employees of the massive brewery complex who would pass the fountain on the way to work every morning.
Until just a few years ago, the fountain still had the large vase and two cherubs attached, one grappling with a duck and the other with a fish. In the 1950s, perhaps the heyday of brewing ambitions in the South Sound area, this fountain was in its prime – tiled and polished to reflect the morning sun.
However, after the brewery’s closure in 2003, a revolving door of potential new owners, and rampant vandalism at the site, the two copper cherubs and a centerpiece vase were put into storage and later sold on Craigslist.
From a 2017 article in The Olympian (linked here to The Daily News, which does not have a paywall):
“The cherubs and vase were part of the fountain that could be seen along Custer Way when the brewery was operating. The base of the fountain is still there…but is in disrepair. It was branded with ‘It’s the water,’ but that has been removed. The original fountain project was conceived and designed by brewery employees in the early 1950s as a gift to Peter G. Schmidt, the son of Olympia brewery founder Leopold Schmidt. Although Leopold started the brewery, Peter modernized it.”
Rolf Boone, The Olympian, Mar 23, 2017