Forest Home Cemetery: Paying Respects to Milwaukee Beer Barons

The more we get into the historic aspects of places we visit, the more interesting local cemeteries become to us. Ornate monuments alone are fascinating to see, but what we also find intriguing are family plots where we can piece together a family’s lineage. One cemetery we recently toured was Forest Home Cemetery, where most of Milwaukee’s early beer barons are interred.

Editor’s note: This is the last in a series of four articles about Milwaukee’s Pabst family and the historic Pabst Brewery, at one time the nation’s largest brewery.

It’s best to visit the Forest Home Cemetery office first to pick up a booklet for a self-guided tour, and then begin your tour in the Halls of History. The Halls of History is an indoor mausoleum with displays honoring many well-known Milwaukee citizens who were integral in the city’s early growth. Unfortunately, we got to the cemetery late in the day, so we missed seeing the Halls of History.

Forest Home Cemetery self-guided tour

Since we already had a tour guide booklet, consisting of a map and short biographies of 101 well-known Milwaukeeans, including six beer barons, we went directly to the driving tour. We had just visited the Pabst Mansion, had taken the Best Place Beery History Tour and had eaten at Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub, so we focused on seeking out the graves of Milwaukee’s beer barons.

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One of the more elaborate burials sites is the Blatz family mausoleum, with a large family name inscription above the entrance. The last names of his daughters, Kremer and Kletzsch, are inscribed on the posts to the sides of the entrance.

Forest Home Cemetery BlatzThe Pabst family plot includes an ornate monument but modest headstones for the family members. Frederick Pabst grew the Pabst Brewing Company into the world’s largest brewery.

Forest Home Cemetery PabstForest Home Cemetery Pabst grave Jacob Best founded the Best Brewing Company, which later became the Pabst Brewing Company, named for Frederick Pabst, Best’s son-in-law who took over the company reins. The memorial marker was obviously erected in more recent years for historical purposes.

Forest Home Cemetery BestAugust Krug was the founder of what would eventually become the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. He died only seven years after the first barrel of beer was produced.

Forest Home Cemetery KrugAfter Krug died, Joseph Schlitz took over management of the company and married Krug’s widow. He built a new brewery and renamed it after himself.

Following the deaths of Joseph Schlitz and then his widow, the Uihlein brothers, nephews of the brewery’s founder, August Krug, took control of the company. August Uihlein is credited with growing the brewery to its national prominence. Uihlein is buried with the family at the foot of the monument.

Forest Home Cemetery SchlitzWhile we were on the hunt for the beer barons’ graves, we snapped a few photos of a few other interesting monuments, as well.

Forest Home Cemetery MilwaukeeBesides beer barons, the self-guided tour includes graves of powerful industrialists, military heroes, pioneering women, black leaders, Wisconsin governors, Milwaukee mayors, and more. We spent only about an hour in the 200-acre cemetery, but you could easily spend at least a half day on the self-guided tour of the 200-acre cemetery.

If you go

Forest Home Cemetery, located at 2406 West Forest Home Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is open daily from one hour after dawn to one hour before dusk.

Accommodations: We stayed at the historic Pfister Hotel during our visit to Milwaukee. Find the best hotel deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor.

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Disclosures: Our stay in Milwaukee was hosted by Visit Milwaukee. However, any opinions expressed in this post are our own.
This article contains an affiliate link, which means that if you book a room through this link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

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3 thoughts on “Forest Home Cemetery: Paying Respects to Milwaukee Beer Barons

  • December 29, 2015 at 4:18 pm
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    cool article for beer lovers

    Reply
  • January 3, 2016 at 10:16 am
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    I love visiting cemeteries – the ages of people and the quotes…always an interesting experience. Cool to have the extra information about the sight!

    Reply
    • January 5, 2016 at 7:42 am
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      I like visiting cemeteries, too, especially the really old ones. It’s interesting to piece together family lives.

      Reply

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