Seattle Historical Sites

The buildings are now primarily associated with Tully’s Coffee and previously with Rainier Beer, but have a much longer history. They were originally part of the Bayview Brewing Company, founded during the later part of the 19^th Century. According to some sources, the Bayview Brewing Company was incorporated in 1891. According to the same sources, the basis for this brewery was, in fact, a succession of breweries, previously created by brewer Andrew Hemrich with other partners. These included Hemrich and Company, created between 1884 and 1885 and an earlier steam brewery, created by Andrew Hemrich and John Kopp in 1883. Other sources simply claim that the Bayview Brewing Company was created as early as 1883.

Sources are fairly clear that in 1893, the Bayview Brewing Company joined with the Clausen-Sweeney Brewing Company founded by John Clausen and Edward Sweeney in Georgetown, as well as with the Albert Braun Brewing Company, to become the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company.  Operations continued at the first two facilities, while the former Braun headquarters eventually closed. The Seattle Brewing and Malting Company’s most popular product was “Rainier.” By 1904, the company was the largest brewery, west of the Mississippi. By 1913, after consolidation of the brewing operation at the Georgetown plant, the Bayview site became a bottling plant.

Under Prohibition, the sale of alcoholic beverages was outlawed in Washington State in early 1916. The ban was only lifted with the end of  Prohibition in 1933. In 1934, Fritz Sick and his son Emil bought the abandoned buildings of the former Bayview plant and founded the Century Brewing Company. In 1935, they also obtained the rights to the Rainier brand. Major production resumed at the former Bayview Brewing plant. A giant neon “R,” which rotated, was attached to one of the building roofs. It became a notable symbol of the plant. In 1944, the company became known as Sick’s Seattle Brewing and Malting Company. This name endured until 1957, when it was changed to Sick’s Rainier Brewing Company, which lasted until 1970. In 1970, the company was renamed the Rainier Brewing Company. In 1977, G. Heilemann Brewing Company of Illinois bought the company. In 1996, Stroh Brewery of Detroit bought the company, but then ceased its involvement in beer production in 1999. As a result, production of Rainier beer ceased and this facility closed.

The Benaroya Foundation bought the complex shortly thereafter. In 2000, Tully’s Coffee leased it. In 2003, the Rainier Commons group purchased the complex. By 2008, while Tully’s had set up headquarters in a few of the buildings, prominently located along Airport Way South, other buildings were remodeled to accommodate artists’ studios, as well as other commercial/artistic tenants, such as recording studios. 

This complex features at least 21 buildings, set closely together. Most of the buildings feature exterior masonry walls, as well as a variety of window openings. Segmental arches top some of the window openings, while others openings are trabeated. Corbel bands also often figure toward the top of building facades. Also prominent among the buildings is the masonry smoke stack. Most of the buildings are typical of late 19^th Century or early 20^th Century industrial buildings and form a striking ensemble.