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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

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

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, 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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He married and had three sons (

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

, 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 the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In 1894, Gerlinger bought the existing Young's Brewery in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

. 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 Polk County is one of the Oregon counties, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 87,433. The county seat is Dallas, Oregon, Dallas. The Oregon Geographic Names, county is ...

for a railroad. Just west of

Dallas, Oregon Dallas is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,854 at the 2020 census. Dallas is along Rickreall Creek, about west of Salem, at an elevation of above sea level. It is part of the Salem M ...

, in the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic region, in the United States, U.S. state of Or ...

, 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 the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

and other commercial timber species. He incorporated the

Salem, Falls City and Western Railway The Salem, Falls City and Western Railway (SFC&W) was an American railroad based in Polk County, Oregon that ran between Salem and Black Rock via Dallas and Falls City. History In October, 1901, Louis Gerlinger, Sr. and Charles K. Spaulding a ...

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 ...

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

to the mouth of the

Siletz River The Siletz River flows about to the Pacific Ocean through coastal mountains in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of its north and south forks near Valsetz in Polk County, it winds through the Central Oregon Coast Range. The ...

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 The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

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