On Tuesday, June 9, 1908, sparks from a chimney started a fire that totally destroyed the bottling plant of the Maribel Mineral Springs Company in the Town of Cooperstown, about two miles east of the village of Maribel in northwest Manitowoc County.

Stone ruins of the Maribel Mineral Springs Co. bottling plant, built after the 1908 fire. PROVIDED BY BOB FAY

According to the Manitowoc Daily Herald, the fire was discovered by Michael Bartelme, an employee of the company, at 9:30 in the morning. Despite the efforts of a bucket brigade, the fire spread quickly and destroyed the two-story frame 50 × 80 building, machinery and a large stock of mineral water, resulting in a total loss of $5,000, of which $1,500 was insured.

Other buildings on the property, including the Maribel Caves Hotel, were undamaged. The three-story rustic-style hotel, reminiscent of an old castle, was built in 1900 to accommodate people who came to see the nearby Cooperstown Caves located along a picturesque ledge of the Niagara Escarpment on the west side of the West Twin River (now Manitowoc County Cherney Maribel Caves Park).

One of the attractions of the popular hotel and summer resort of 450-acres was its clean, mineral spring that flowed from a 50-foot bluff down to the river below. Water, with a temperature of about 42 degrees year round, was pumped by a hydraulic ramjet from a spring house to the bottling plant and hotel guest rooms.

Water analysis by a University of Wisconsin chemist showed it was high in calcium and magnesium bicarbonates. The hotel offered the curative water to guests as a means to cleanse the body and aid in the relief of constipation and heartburn.

The Maribel Mineral Springs Co. was organized in 1905 by Rev. F. X. Steinbrecher and John Brill of Kaukauna; and John H. Kamps and Judge G. T. Moeskes, Appleton. Capital stock of the company was $75,000, or 750 shares of stock, each with a face or par value of $100.

In 1906, the first shipment of spring water was taken by seventeen horse-drawn wagons to the Chicago & North Western Railway Co. freight house in Manitowoc. The water was shipped in ten gallon tin cans, painted red on the outside, and placed in wooden crates.

After the railroad was built from Manitowoc to Green Bay, freight shipments of the therapeutic mineral water were taken to the Maribel station. Glass bottles were later used to ship the mineral water to Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis.

The day after the fire, the Manitowoc Daily Herald reported bottling operations would not be interfered with as the company had leased a large structure near the burnt plant, which was to be used until a new building was constructed. Work on a modern bottling plant, with improved equipment, was soon begun.

Once completed, the new one-story 45 × 85 feet limestone bottling structure featured 2½ foot thick walls and a flat roof with three brick chimneys. Steam from a boiler was used to sanitize glass bottles.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Joseph Klemish and Norman Nachtwey each started bottling operations in the village of Maribel. During the 1940s, Mr. Nachtwey acquired the Sunbow Beverages franchise and bottled as many as 2,000 cases of soda each week, using Maribel springs water.

No longer needed for bottling water, the old Maribel Mineral Springs Co. plant was used mostly for storage by the Adolph Cherney family who owned the hotel property from 1932 until the early 1970s.

Today, the former Maribel Mineral Springs Co. bottling plant and Maribel Caves Hotel lie in ruins on private property, north of the county park. Despite the best of efforts, the dream of restoring and preserving the historic stone landmarks and bottling spring water again was never realized.

Spring water still flows down the rocky cliff to the river. Many glass water bottles and wooden crates marked ‘Maribel Mineral Springs Co., Maribel, Wis.’ are preserved in private and museum collections – nostalgic reminders of days gone by.

Fire Destroyed Maribel Mineral Springs Co. Bottling Plant in 1908

Manitowoc’s Masonic Temple was Built in 1923