J. A. Cochran
Houghton Bottling Works

09 Nov 2021, last revised 28 Oct 2025

J. A. Cochran curiously had bottles from both Baraga and Houghton. It turns out, he started in Baraga and then moved to Houghton with hopes to expand his business.

John A. Cochran was born in Feb 1869 in Michigan to immigrants from Canada (4). It is unknown where in Michigan he was born or when he arrived in the Copper Country, but he lived in Marquette when he was married on 04 Oct 1892 (5).

Cochran's pop factory started in Baraga on 09 May 1896 (11). The firm J. A. Cochran & Co. consisted of John A. Cochran and Adolph A. Pinet (1,2). One known bottle bears this firm name. They were "manufacturers of carbonated beverages", and in Jul 1896, were noted to be "doing a good business" (1). The partnership then dissolved on 02 Jun 1900 (2) with Cochran purchasing Pinet's interest and becoming sole proprietor (3).

Newspaper ad - May 1896

Newspaper ad - Jul 1900

In addition to soda, Cochran apparently bottled local mineral water. When driving a pipe for a well 12 miles west of Baraga, M. Pelkey struck a vein of mineral water (6). It was said to possess medicinal qualities, and its sale was placed with Cochran in 1903 (6).

Cochran had his left hand badly lacerated by the bursting of a pop bottle in May 1905, and the notice stated that his business was called the "Baraga Bottling Works" (12). In Sep 1906, Cochran installed new machinery, enabling his bottling works to be operated by water motor (7). It was stated that, "Mr. Cochran now has an up-to-date establishment and is enabled to cope with his large and constantly increasing trade." (7). The 1907 Michigan State Polk directory listed Cochran as village treasurer and manufacturer of ginger ale, pop, all kinds of carbonated beverages, and Cleveland Cider Co.'s apple cider (8). In Jan 1908, he renovated his pop factory with a new wash tank and other new machinery (9).

In May 1908, Cochran announced that he would be moving to Houghton on or about Jun 01 (10). The plan was for him to manufacture in Houghton and retain the Baraga location as a distribution station (10). The intent of the move was to help him meet the rapidly increasing demand for his products in the wider Copper Country (10). Cochran opened the Houghton factory on 13 Jun 1908 and announced that he would be ready to serve the trade on the following Monday (28). In addition to his signature products, Cochran advertised that he was a bottler of Coca Cola.

Newspaper ad - Dec 1908

Newspaper ad - Dec 1908

Cochran's Houghton factory was located in the Karkeek building near the county bridge (10). The 1912 directory specified the address as 160 Lake (now called Lakeshore Dr.) at the corner with Dakotah St. (now called Bridge St.), and stated that he was a "bottler of the famous Cochran's ginger ale and other carbonated beverages" (13). It seems his ginger ale was his signature product.

Sanborn map - Nov 1917

In Jan 1912, soft drink manufacturers of Michigan held a meeting in Lansing and formed the Michigan Soda Bottlers' Association (29). Cochran was selected to be vice president (29). The manufacturers organized "for mutual protection and to assist each other in the enforcement of the pure food laws" (29). They wanted to ensure that empty bottles were returned to their proper owners and that "an unprincipled dealer may not sell adulterated products under another's label" (29).

Cochran continued to bottle into the ABM period. The bottling works had five employees in 1909 (18), up to 11 in 1917 (19), and down to seven in 1918 and 1919 (20,21).

Magazine ad - Mar 1916

In 1922, Cochran sold the pop factory to Chas. Nikula (11). Cochran was then a dealer of trucks on the 1930 U.S. Federal Census (15) and a garage owner on the 1940 census (16). He died in 1948 at the age of 78-79 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (17).

Charles Nikula was born in Finland on 13 Dec 1874 (24) and immigrated to the U.S. in 1892 (4) when he was 18 years old (22). He spent a short time in Oscoda, MI before moving to the lumber camps of Louisiana (22). He moved to Negaunee and worked for four years as a miner (22), which is were the 1900 U.S. Federal Census placed him (25). He then became a bottler, sold the business after three years, and then operated a bottling works in Hurley, WI for six years (22). In 1909, he purchased a bottling works in Ironwood, MI (22), but the 1910 census placed him in Wisconsin as a pop factory owner (4). He then sold the Ironwood business in 1921 (22).

After inspecting "various cities for their possibilities for the bottling business" (22), Nikula move to Houghton and purchased the "Houghton Bottling Works" from Cochran in Mar 1922 (22,11). The 1927 and 1930 directories listed Charles Nikula as proprietor of "Houghton Bottling Works" (14,30). Despite the suggestion that Nikula inherited the Houghton Bottling Works name from Cochran (22,23), we could not find any documentation that Cochran used this name.

A newspaper ad from Jul 1922 indicate that Nikula continued to manufacture Cochran's famous ginger ale. In Jun 1934, Nikula introduced a highly carbonated water known as Huron Springs Sparkling Water to be used in mixed drinks and bottled it "in new bottles of attractive design" (31). An ad from 1934 indicate that Nikula bottled franchised brands, including 7-Up, Coca-Cola, Mission Orange, and Virginia Dare Ginger Ale. He also had a bottle for Nu Grape.

Newspaper ad - Jul 1922

Newspaper ad - Dec 1934

Nikula was still listed in the 1939 directory at the same location (26). He then died on 14 Jul 1939 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (24).

A 1947/1948 business directory listed the Seven-Up Bottling Co. in Houghton at 13 N. Bridge St. (27). It advertised 7-Up and Nesbitt's Orange (27). Given that it had the same phone number as listed for Cochran in the 1912 directory (13), it evidently was the same bottling works. Additional franchised bottles from the 1950s include Nik's Finer Beverages and Pepsi-Cola. It is unknown who ran the bottling works after Nikula or when the bottling works closed, but the latest ABM bottle from Houghton is a 7-up bottle from 1959.

We can only wonder how superb was Cochran's ginger ale. At least we still have a few of his bottles to cherish.

Citations

1. anonymous. (1896, Jul 11). Baraga department. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
2. anonymous. (1900, Jul 07). Dissolution of partnership. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 1.
3. anonymous. (1900, Jun 30). Baraga department. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
4. U.S. Census Bureau. 1910 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
5. Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (accessed on ancestry.com).
6. anonymous. (1903, Jun 20). Baraga department. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
7. anonymous. (1906, Sep 29). Baraga department. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. 1907. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1907-1908. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
9. anonymous. (1908, Jan 18). Baraga department. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
10. anonymous. (1908, May 23). Will remove to Houghton. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
11. anonymous. (1922, Mar 31). Cochran sells out his pop factory. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 1.
12. anonymous. (1905, May 27). Baraga department. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 5.
13. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Hancock, Houghton and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
14. R. L. Polk & Co. 1930. Polk’s Houghton (Michigan) Directory 1930. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
15. U.S. Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
16. U.S. Census Bureau. 1940 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
17. Find a Grave. accessed on Nov 2021. John A Cochran. findagrave.com/memorial/197507511/john-a-cochran
18. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1910. First Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
19. Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1918. Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
20. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1919. Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Fort Wayne Printing Co. Fort Wayne, Indiana.
21. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1920. Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
22. Fuller, G. N. 1926. Historic Michigan: Land of the Great Lakes, Vol. III - A History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. National Historical Association, Inc.
23. anonymous. (1939, Jul 18). Former ironwood resident stricken. Ironwood Daily Globe (Ironwood, MI). p. 9.
24. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
25. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
26. R. L. Polk & Co. 1939. Polk’s Houghton (Michigan) Directory 1939. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
27. The Daily Mining Gazette. 1947 or 1948. Copper Country Classified Business and Professional Directory. Houghton, MI.
28. anonymous. (1908, Jun 13). New pop factory opened. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
29. anonymous. (1912, Jan 29). Houghton man honored. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
30. R. L. Polk & Co. 1927. Polk’s Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1927-1928. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
31. anonymous. (1934, Jun 26). Houghton Bottling Works creates new carbonated product. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 10.