Welcome to the Olympia Tumwater Foundation

What We Do

Founded in 1950, the non-profit Olympia Tumwater Foundation (OTF) honors both the history and future of Thurston County through its commitment to a wide range of community projects including student scholarships, historic preservation, and stewardship of Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls and the historic Schmidt House.

Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls

The most ambitious project undertaken by OTF was construction in 1962 of a 15-acre park along the falls of the Deschutes River. Today, it is a popular tourist destination with over 250,000 annual visitors!

Scholarships & Grants

Since awarding its first college scholarship in 1967, OTF has given more than $2.4 million in scholarships and grants and helped hundreds of students pursue undergraduate degrees.

The Schmidt House

Built by Olympia Brewing Co. founder Leopold Schmidt in 1904, the elegant Schmidt House contains the extensive Olympia Brewing Co. archives and history program offices. Take a guided tour with our Schmidt House curator, or rent the house for your event!

Support our programs

Created by the Olympia Brewing Company to conduct their philanthropic efforts, our organization aims to enrich our local community through a variety of programs. 

Latest Projects

Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls Video Project

Your support makes amazing projects, like this video series, possible!

This past year, working in conjunction with the City of Tumwater through their LTAC funding program, we have collaborated with local videography company, RAPT,  to produce a series of promotional videos of Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls. These videos took long hours of filming, editing, and producing to finally achieve what we envisioned. Now, we are incredibly excited to share them with you! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Resources & Announcements

March Newsletter

Read about the what we’ve been up to here at the foundation, and what’s coming next!

Coming Soon: Brewery Park History & Nature Center

The Olympia Tumwater Foundation is pleased to announce plans for a new History and Nature Center to enhance visitors’ appreciation of the rich cultural resources and spectacular natural beauty of Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls. We need our community’s help to fund this incredible project!

An American Revolution Exhibit Comes to the Schmidt House

In April, an exciting new exhibit about the American Revolution is coming to the Schmidt House. The exhibit was created by the American Battlefield Trust and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. We are pleased to be one of only three venues in western Washington that will host
the exhibit in 2024.

Visit us April 5 through April 17, 10 AM to 4 PM (excluding Mondays and Tuesdays) to see the exhibit. Admission is free.

Historic Photos of Tumwater

Explore the history of the Tumwater area through vintage photos. In 2020, OTF was awarded a grant from the Thurston County Historic Commission. This grant allowed OTF to digitize over 4,400 images from its collection. From time to time, more photos will be added to our website. Our expansive archives are in the process of being digitized. This means anyone curious about Tumwater’s past can browse through a catalogue of incredible photographs. 

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