Mountain Valley Water Co.

21 Jan 2022, last revised 11 Nov 2025

The Mountain Valley Water Co. in Lake Linden was a branch of the Mountain Valley Water Co. of Michigan (6), located in Detroit and managed by John Glass (20). They sold mineral water from the famous Mountain Valley Spring in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Mineral water from this spring has been bottled since 1871, and it is still being bottled today (mountainvalleyspring.com).

Dr. Orr as Founder

Dr. George W. Orr (see Dr. G. W. Orr) of the Lake Superior General Hospital and the Lake Superior School for Nursing (5) founded the Lake Linden branch.

Orr's testimonial in an ad for the Mountain Valley Water Company of Indiana published in the Indianapolis Medical Journal in 1921 explained how he became acquainted with the spring water. When visiting Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1908, a physician informed him of a spring nearby whose waters can cure diabetes and Bright's disease. He laughed and thought so little of it that he didn't ask for the name of the spring. When his wife later developed diabetes (insipidus), he took her to Hot Springs and learned of the Mountain Valley Spring Water. In 48 hours, her symptoms were alleviated, and after ten weeks, she was in perfect health.

By May 1909, the Mountain Valley Water Co. of Michigan was shipping "small bottles" of water to Dr. Orr and Thomas H. Rule in Lake Linden (1). Rule, who was a grocer with his brother (4), handled distribution of the water in the Upper Peninsula (20).

Bottling in Lake Linden

In Jul 1909, plans were underway to establish a permanent branch in Lake Linden (24). The lower floor of the Guck building on Calumet St. was rented (24). By Aug 1909, the local branch was established with Thomas Rule as manager (2). The basement held three 500-gal. tanks, and was used for storing, carbonating, and bottling the water (2). They sold the water to the public in 26-gal. tanks, 10-gal. tanks, cases of twelve 2-qt. bottles, and carbonized splits (2). (The "2-qt. bottles" probably referred to the 1-qt. bottle that collectors have recovered.) By Oct 1909, business was good and they expected to receive a car load of water daily to meet the increasing demand (21,22).

Move and Expansion

The company purchased the Lake Linden photo gallery building in Oct 1909 (3), which was across the street from their current location (25). In Feb 1910, the company installed an up-to-date carbonating plant and would soon market its popular product in siphon bottles (27), but no such siphon bottles have been discovered. By Dec 1910, business has increased to such an extent that the company found it necessary to increase its capacity and negotiations were underway "for some big improvements to be made in the near future" (28).

In Dec 1910, the company purchased the Lake Linden Bottling Works, including its stock of goods, fixtures, machinery, horses, sleighs, etc. (6,7). They had plans to market several new varieties of pop, including Mountain Brew, a ginger ale made with the spring water (6). The State of Michigan Dairy and Food Department, however, reported a test for only Atlas Brew in 1910 (18) and 1912 (19).

In Jan 1911, they moved into their new building on Calumet St. (8), which the Sanborn maps showed to have been the photo gallery purchased earlier. It was located on the east side of the street, between 4th St. (now 3rd St.) and Center St. (now 4rd St.). They also had plans to install new machinery (8).

Owens as Proprietor

In Feb 1911, John C. Owens of Lake Linden took over the company, with "Dr. Orr having severed his connection with the company because he found that it was interfering with his professional work." (9). Owens would look over the company's business interests and Edward Warren of Calumet would manage the factory (9,23) and represent the company's interests in Calumet (10). Warren had many years of experience working for R. T. Harvey and Jos. James (23).

The company made extensive improvements to their new property on Calumet St. In Aug 1911, they installed an automatic carbonator to replace an old, hand-operated one (28). They installed a three-horse power gasoline engine, an electric motor, and a bottle washer by Apr 1912 (29). In Jul 1912, they made extensive improvements to the property, including the addition of a retaining wall, an iron fence, a new barn with concrete walls and floor for three horses, electric lighting and water system, a shed, and a small elevator to move case goods between the basement and ground floor (11,12,13). In Mar 1913, they added a concrete floor in the pop factory, enlarged the storage rooms at the rear of the lot, and constructed a new business front (14,15).

Despite the expansion, improvements, and reports of good business, the company suspended operations in spring of 1915 (16).

The Bottling Works Lives On

The bottling works gained a new life. In Oct 1915, D. W. Sutter purchased the company and factory equipment from Dr. Orr (16). Sutter secured a lease for the property on which the factory operated and placed an order for new equipment (16). The 1916 Polk directory shows that the company became the Lake Linden Bottling Works, with Dominick W. Sutter listed as bottler and Edwin Warren as manager (17).

The Legacy

The Lake Linden branch of the Mountain Valley Water Co. bottled and distributed mineral water (and later soda) from 1909 to 1915. Two hand-blown bottles and one ABM bottle are known for the company. The first bottle (#77) bears the name MOUNTAIN VALLEY WATER CO. OF MICHIGAN; and thus, may have been the "small bottles" shipped from the Detroit company. The second bottle (#78) bears LAKE LINDEN as the town location, so it clearly can be attributed to the Lake Linden factory. The ABM bottle (abm-73) bears what presumably is a date code for 1914; and if so, it was used shortly before operations ceased.

Citations

1. Monthly Michigan melange. (1909, Jul 07). The American Bottler 29 (7): 46.
2. The Mountain Valley Water Company. (1909, Aug 10). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
3. Torch Lake brevities. (1909, Oct 19). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
4. R. L. Polk & Co. (1909). Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1909. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
5. R. L. Polk & Co. (1907). Houghton County Directory 1907-08. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
6. Pop company sold. (1910, Dec 11). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 12.
7. [Untitled]. (1910, Dec 20). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
8. Mountain Valley Co. (1911, Jan 11). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
9. Mountain Valley Company. (1911, Feb 04). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 5.
10. [Untitled]. (1912, Feb 09). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
11. Building improvements. (1912, Jul 27). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
12. Improving property. (1912, Jul 28). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 11.
13. Extensive improvements. (1912, Jul 29). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
14. Improve pop factory. (1913, Mar 08). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
15. The improve pop plant. (1913, Mar 08). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 7.
16. Plant to resume operations. (1915, Oct 05). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 7.
17. R. L. Polk & Co. (1916). Houghton County Directory 1916-17. R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers. Detroit, MI.
18. State of Michigan Department of Dairy and Food Department. (1910). Bulletin No. 173-178, Jan-June 1910. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
19. State of Michigan. (1912). Nineteenth Annual Report of the Dairy and Food Commissioner of the State of Michigan for the year ending June 30, 1912. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
20. Personal mention. (1909, Jun 01). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
21. [Untitled]. (1909, Oct 12). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
22. [Untitled]. (1909, Oct 19). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
23. [Untitled]. (1911, Feb 07). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
24. To open an office. (1909, Jul 15). The Calumet News (Calumet, MI). p. 6.
25. Buys new property. (1909, Oct 19). The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 7.
26. Carbonating plant. (1910, Feb 12). The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 7.
27. Mountain Valley water. (1910, Dec 06). The Evening Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 7.
28. [Untitled]. (1911, Aug 08). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.
29. [Untitled]. (1912, Apr 23). The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 1.