Brewing in Oregon wouldn't be the same without the Bottlers.
George Frederick Bottler, and his brother, George Michael Bottler, left a lasting legacy on Oregonian culture by being two of the first brewers in the Beaver State.
But a monument to their legacy has been showing the signs of age.
The Bottler Brothers were memorialized in a tomb on the northwest side of Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery in Portland, near the firefighter's memorial. It's one of the oldest structures at Lone Fir.
It's in poor shape. The roof is crumbling. Its walls are unstable enough that a chain-link fence surrounds it to protect passersby.
But members of the local brewing community are trying to fix that. At a private event last week, beer enthusiasts, preservationists and others celebrated a $10,000 donation from the Oregon Brewers Festival to restore the tomb.
McMenamins is also a key contributor, adding proceeds from a summer History Pub event toward restoration of the Bottler tomb.
Fred Bottler was a brewer in The Dalles, and was interred at Lone Fir in 1865 upon the request of his brother, George M. Bottler. George M. established City Brewery in Portland in 1857. He later died in Munich, Germany.
The Bottlers were one of three primary brewing families in 19th century Portland, but the only one to have disappeared, at least in brewing. The Saxer family's legacy lives on through Portland Brewing Company, and Henry Weinhard's name has been synonymous with Portland brewing for decades.
Where the Bottlers vanished from brewing, though, their legacy lived on in baseball. Ron Bottler played 136 games for the Portland Beavers in the 1950s, back when the Pacific Coast League had teams in Los Angeles and San Francisco and was considered by many to be a third major league. His brother, Bill Bottler, pitched in a handful of games for the Beavers in the 1950s.
Listening to those games on the radio was Art Larrance, who owns some local breweries and the Oregon Brewers Festival. Some decades later, while researching the history of brewing in Oregon, he learned more about the connection between the Bottler brothers of brewing and the Bottler brothers of baseball.
When Metro, Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery and the Lone Fir Cemetery Foundation were looking to kick-start a renovation of the tomb, they contacted Larrance.
"I thought it might be an interesting thing for the Brewers Festival to get involved in," Larrance said. "Here's the seed money. Here's the $10,000 to get it started. Hopefully the brewing community will show some interest in it."
Frank Schaefer, the chair of Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery's board, said the project has a ways to go. Several years ago, a renovation of the tomb was estimated at $80,000. The cost is likely higher now, he said.
But supporters of the project expect to have more fundraisers for the project next year.
"This is probably the first big, big (project) that both Lone Fir and the foundation are working in partnership together," Schaefer said. "This will open up doors for the cemetery in general."