Henry Larsen

23 Nov 2021, last revised 18 May 2026

Henry Larsen's bottling works in Hancock was a continuation of the Sterling Spring Mineral Water Co. started by his father, Peter Larsen.

Henry Larsen was born in Feb 1874 (1) in Escanaba (2). He was a resident of Hancock on the 1900 U.S. Federal Census (1). He worked with his father at the Sterling Spring Mineral Water Co., being listed as manager in 1903 (3) and teamster in 1905 (4). He became manager of a South Range branch in 1905 (5), proprietor with Hans Johnson in Jan 1907 (6), and then sole proprietor in Jan 1911 (7). The 1912 directory listed Henry Larsen as proprietor of the Sterling Spring Mineral Water Co. (8), indicating that Henry continued to use the Sterling Spring name after becoming sole proprietor. Correspondingly, there is one Sterling Spring bottle (#46) that bears Henry Larsen's monogram.

One HENRY LARSEN bottle has a date code for 1912, so Henry evidently dropped the Sterling Spring name in 1912, at least on the bottles. The 1916 Polk directory listed Henry Larsen as a bottler with no name specified for the bottling works (9), which corresponds to the HENRY LARSEN embossing on the bottles. The address for Henry Larsen's bottling works was 511 Hancock St. (9), the same address previously specified for the Sterling Spring Mineral Water Co. (8).

Sanborn map - Aug 1917

The 1916 directory also listed a branch in Calumet for Henry and Peter Larsen (9), and there are bottles specific to that branch (see H. Larsen & Co.).

The bottling works at 511 Hancock St. continued into the ABM age. Henry Larsen was listed as a manufacturer and dealer in carbonated beverages in the 1921 directory (10). In Mar 1924, Henry sold the bottling works to Edwin G. Eckstrom and Leo McKindles after the plant had been closed for two years (11). Thus, Henry Larsen's operation, which used bottles embossed with HENRY LARSEN, dates to 1912 to c.1922. Correspondingly, the latest HENRY LARSEN bottle dates to 1921.

The bottling works continued under the new proprietors as the Hancock City Bottling Co.

Citations

1. U.S. Census Bureau. 1900 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
2. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records (accessed on ancestry.com).
3. R. L. Polk & Co. 1903. Houghton County Directory 1903-04. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. 1905. Houghton County Directory 1905-06. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
5. anonymous. (1905, Mar 09). Pop firm at South Range. The Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 7.
6. anonymous. (1907, Jan 23). Leases pop factory. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
7. anonymous. (1911, Jan 11). Partnership dissolved. The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
8. R. L. Polk & Co. 1912. 1912 Calumet, Hancock, Houghton and Laurium Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1916. Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. 1921. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1921-1922. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
11. anonymous. (1924, Mar 25). Soft drink plant is sold to new firm. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.