No.41

Blitz-Weinhard Co.

Location: Portland, OR
Upcoming illumination: Sat Feb 8, 2025
Portland Winter Light Festival 2025
Layers: 1

This Blitz-Weinhard Co sign was originally painted between 1937-1955 and was painted over sometime between 1967-1970.

Henry Weinhard

(1830-1904)

City Brewery

Henry Weinhard, a German immigrant, arrived in the Portland-Vancouver area in 1856. He worked in local breweries before purchasing Meunch’s Brewery in Vancouver. Seeing Portland’s growth, he moved his operations across the river, purchasing City Brewery from George Bottler in 1862.

Weinhard's beer quickly gained popularity, with sales reaching across the Northwest and internationally. For Skidmore Fountain's 1887 dedication, Weinhard famously offered to pump beer through it—a proposal the city declined. By his death in 1904, his brewery was the largest in the Pacific Northwest, producing over 100,000 barrels annually.

Building

Circa 1908

Brew House

The brick brewery at NW 12th & W Burnside traces its roots to 1856 when City Brewery was established by brothers George & Frederick Bottler, just five years after Portland’s incorporation. As the city grew, so did the brewery, with Henry Weinhard purchasing and expanding operations and constructing the Brew House in 1908. Designed by Whidden & Lewis—architects of Portland City Hall—this building, along with the adjacent malt and hop building, became a defining piece of Portland’s industrial landscape.

These walls housed one of the region’s most significant breweries for nearly a century and a half, surviving Prohibition and multiple ownership changes. Though much of the brewery was demolished after its closure in 1999, the Brew House remains a rare physical link to Portland’s early brewing history.

Workers at Henry Weinhard Brewery, circa 1910. Oregon Historical Society, 50626.

Legacy

Blitz-Weinhard Co.

In 1928, City Brewery merged with Portland Brewing, forming Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company. The brewery survived Prohibition by producing "near beer," syrups, and soft drinks before regaining strength in the post-war years. By the 1950s, it was the oldest continuously operated brewery in the West. Its Blitz and Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve brands became household names, with production reaching 1.3 million barrels by the 1990s.

However, after changing ownership multiple times, the Portland brewery closed in 1999 when production moved out of state. Employees marked the closure by hanging their work boots in the rafters—a tribute to generations of Portland brewers.

The site was redeveloped as The Brewery Blocks, ensuring that Portland’s most famous brewing landmark remains a vital part of the city’s landscape.