MILWAUKEE GUIDED TOUR FIELD GUIDE
Gravestones & Growlers: Tracing Milwaukee’s Beer Barons at Forest Home Cemetery
A 1.5-hour docent-led walk that visits the graves and industrial legacies of Milwaukee beer pioneers—Schlitz, Pabst, Blatz—and the people and trades that built the city’s brewing economy.
Gravestones & Growlers: Tracing Milwaukee’s Beer Barons at Forest Home Cemetery.
Forest Home Cemetery unfolds like a map of Milwaukee’s brewing age: shaded lanes, Victorian monuments and the marked plots of the city’s best-known beer families. On this guided walk you move through nearly two centuries of civic and industrial history as the guide connects individual memorials to the larger story of how Milwaukee became a brewing capital.
Highlights
Outing Highlights
Meet the Beer Barons
The tour stops at the final resting places of Joseph Schlitz, Captain Frederick Pabst and Valentin Blatz and traces how their enterprises shaped Milwaukee’s reputation for brewing.
Trades Behind the Pint
Beyond brewery owners, the route highlights the inventors, barrel makers and wagon builders—people whose trades supplied the city’s breweries and kept labels on shelves.
A Victorian Garden Cemetery and Arboretum
Forest Home Cemetery is Milwaukee’s oldest operating cemetery and a Victorian-era rural garden cemetery; it also serves as an accredited arboretum and a large urban green space.
What the day feels like
What the tour feels like
Over 1.5 hours a docent from Historic Milwaukee, Inc. leads a walking route through Forest Home’s lanes, pausing at headstones and family lots to link personal stories—brewers, barrel makers, wagon builders, architects—to the larger narrative of Milwaukee’s brewing ascent.
Suitability
Who it's for
Who this tour suits—and who should look elsewhere.
Practical planner
Details to review before reserving
The tour runs for approximately 1.5 hours.
Meet at Plankinton Arcade, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Directions available via the operator’s provided Google Maps link.)
This tour covers uneven terrain and does not have anywhere to sit along the way; it is not an accessible route.
Review cancellation policies before reserving.
Frequently asked questions
Planning Your Outing
How long is the Beer Barons Tour?
The tour lasts approximately 1.5 hours.
Where do we meet for the tour?
The meeting point is Plankinton Arcade, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
What will we see on the tour?
You will visit burial plots and memorials for Milwaukee brewers (including Schlitz, Pabst and Blatz) and stops highlighting the craftspeople and businesses that supported the brewing industry.
Who runs the tour and who benefits?
The tour is presented by Historic Milwaukee, Inc.; proceeds benefit Historic Milwaukee, Inc. and Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum.
Is the tour accessible for wheelchairs or visitors with mobility limitations?
No. The tour is not accessible; it traverses uneven terrain and there are no places to sit along the route.