Richard Hooper
Houghton Mineral Water Bottling Works

13 Nov 2021, last revised 20 Jun 2026

Richard Hooper was a soda bottler in Houghton for about ten years. For most of this period, mostly in the early 1900s, he was the only bottler in Houghton. His bottling works was a continuation of Matt Northey.

Hooper as Proprietor

Richard T. Hooper was born on 13 Oct 1870 in Houghton (1). His father was born in England and his mother was born in Michigan (2). He worked for Matt Northey for a number of years, and then in Jan 1899, he purchased Northey's bottling works (12). He was then listed as a soda water manufacturer in the 1899 Polk directory (4). In Jul 1900, Hooper established a telephone line and solicited orders by phone (11).

Newspaper ad – Sep 1899

Newspaper ad – Sep 1900

Newspaper ad – Jan 1901

The 1899 directory described the location of the bottling works as being on the east side of Dodge St., two addresses (or units) south of Montezuma Ave. (4). This was the same description used to locate Matthew Northey's bottling works in the 1897 directory (3). The Sanborn map showed that they operated in the old Hahn brewery, which was purchased by A. Haas Brewing Co. (5). The building burned in Mar 1903 at a loss of $25,000 (6), but it is unknown if the bottling works sustained damages.

In Jul 1906, Hooper moved the bottling works to 104 Montezuma St., which was said to be "much more desirable" (15).

Sanborn map – Jun 1900

Sanborn map – Feb 1908

The 1899, 1901, and 1903 directories listed Richard Hooper by name without specifying the name of his bottling works. An ad from Jul 1901, however, specified the name, "Houghton Bottling Works". This name was also used by Matt Northey, and then later for Cochran's bottling works after it was purchased by Nikula. Michigan labor inspections recorded a "Houghton Bottling Works" with five employees in 1904 and 1906 (13,14); and given the time period, they can only refer to Hooper's bottling works. A subsequent ad from May 1902 specified the name, "Houghton Mineral Water Bottling Works" for R. T. Hooper, and the 1905 and 1907 directories also specified this bottling works name (7,8).

Newspaper ad – Jul 1901

Newspaper ad – May 1902

Newspaper ad – Sep 1902

It is unknown when specifically the bottling works closed. Hooper was listed as a mineral water manufacturer in the 1909 directory (9). His wife, at least, still resided in Houghton in Summer 1909 (16) and Jun 1910 (17). The 1910 directory then noted that Hooper had moved to Oakland, CA (10). Thus, the bottling works probably closed in the second half of 1910. It is unknown what happened to Hooper in California.

The Legacy

Most of Richard Hooper's bottles are embossed with his name instead of a bottling works name. But Hooper has one bottle (#32) embossed with the Houghton Mineral Water Bottling Works name and his initials on the base.

Citations

1. Michigan, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
3. R. L. Polk & Co. (1897). Houghton County Directory 1897-98. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. (1899). Houghton County Directory 1899-1900. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. The Western Historical Company. (1883). History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Western Historical Company. Chicago, IL.
6. Peninsula news. (1903, Mar 14). The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 1.
7. R. L. Polk & Co. (1905). Houghton County Directory 1905-06. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. (1907). Houghton County Directory 1907-08. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. (1909). Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1909. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. (1910). 1910 Calumet, Houghton, Hancock and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
11. Local brevities. (1900, Jul 22). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
12. Portage Lake news. (1899, Jan 14). The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
13. Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. (1905). State of Michigan Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Including the Twelfth Annual Report of State Inspection of Factories. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
14. Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. (1907). State of Michigan Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Including the Fourteenth Annual Report of State Inspection of Factories. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
15. Bottling works moved. (1906, Jul 28). The Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 5.
16. Houghton brevities. (1909, Jul 19). The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 5.
17. Houghton brevities. (1910, Jun 22). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.