Louis Gerlinger Sr. (25 January 1853 – 9 June 1941)Obituary published in ''The Historical Oregonian'', June 10, 1941 was a businessperson in the railroad and timber industries in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the early 20th century. Gerlinger became involved in the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

business comparatively late in life. He was born in

Weitersweiler Weitersweiler is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, in January 1853. At the age of 17, around the time Alsace was annexed by the German Empire, he came to the United States, settling in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He married and had three sons (

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, Louis Jr., and Edward) and a daughter. He built a prosperous store and saloon fixture business.Baldwin, Cathrine A. ''Making the Most of the Best: Willamette Industries' Seventy-Five Years''. Portland, Oregon: Willamette Industries. 1982. OCLC 8734832 At 41, Gerlinger left his comfortable, successful Chicago enterprise to move his family west. He settled in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. In 1894, Gerlinger bought the existing Young's Brewery in Vancouver, Washington. He promptly renamed it Star Brewing Company to reflect the change in product line. Thus the original Star Brewing Company (also known as Star Brewery) was founded.Archived Beer Club Newsletter: Volume 2, Number 8
/ref> Gerlinger was the proprietor from 1894 to 1897.Tavern Trove: Star Brewery Company of Vancouver, Washington
/ref> In 1896, Gerlinger organized and built the Portland, Vancouver and Yakima Railroad on behalf of the Harrimans. In the fall of 1901, Gerlinger purchased of timber in Polk County, Oregon for a railroad. Just west of Dallas, Oregon, in the Oregon Coast Range, grew hundreds of square miles of untouched

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

and other commercial timber species. He incorporated the Salem, Falls City and Western Railway Company late in October 1901 and announced plans to build a railroad from the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

to the mouth of the Siletz River on the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

, a distance of . On May 29, 1903, the first train ran from Dallas to Falls City. At the end of June, passenger trains began regularly scheduled trips to and from Dallas and Falls City each day; the nine-mile (14 km), forty-minute, one-way trip cost 35 cents. Two of Gerlinger's sons, George T. Gerlinger and Louis Gerlinger Jr., managed the railway. In 1906, Gerlinger purchased the Cone Lumber Company, and renamed it Willamette Valley Lumber Company (WVLC). The WVLC would become

Willamette Industries Willamette Industries, Inc. was a Fortune 500 forest products company based in Portland, Oregon, United States.Weyerhaeuser in 2002.Dunn, Cathrine Baldwin. ''Making the Most of the Best: A History of Willamette Industries, Inc.''. Portland, Oregon: Willamette Industries. 1994. OCLC 43799999Swindells, William., and Catherine Baldwin Dunn. ''The Rest of the Best: Willamette Industries, Inc. 1994-2002''. Portland, Oregon: Willamette Industries. 2002. OCLC 51027663 Gerlinger died, at the age of 88 and after a long illness, in Portland on June 9, 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerlinger, Louis Sr. 1853 births 1941 deaths 20th-century American railroad executives American businesspeople in timber Businesspeople from Oregon