Browse Items (34 total)

  • Collection: Mt. Zircon exhibit images

Restored Mt. Zircon Bottle

Still Image / Available Online

Opening of the Mt. Zircon Spring

Still Image / Available Online

Dexter Abbott’s 1848 deed

Text

In 1848, Dexter D. W. Abbott, founder of the mineral spring business at Mt. Zircon, bought farm property at the foot of the mountain on Stickney (now “Zircon”) Brook. Mount Zircon is known as “Peaked Mountain” during this early period. The area is…

1858 map detail showing Abbotsville and spring

Still Image

Gillette and Huntington’s 1858 wall Map of Oxford County, Maine, identifies Mount Zircon as “Peaked Mt.” and Little Mount Zircon as “Thornton Mt.” Named for Dexter D. W. Abbott, the founder of the mineral spring business on Mount Zircon,…

Panoramic view from Eaton Hill, circa 1890

Still Image / Available Online

A panoramic view of circa 1890 reveals the lush farmland that once existed on and around Mount Zircon, whose pyramid-shaped cone rises in the center of this composite photograph. On the left is the white steeple of the former Methodist Church at East…

Official opening of the Mount Zircon Moon Tide Spring

Still Image / Available Online

Taken on July 5, 1859, this photograph documents the “official” opening of the Mount Zircon Moon Tide Spring to the public. The identities of the well-dressed people standing around the spring have not come down to us, with the exception of two…

Poland Spring House

Still Image / Available Online

Dexter D. W. Abbott’s 1850s mineral spring and hotel venture on Mount Zircon may have been inspired by the more long-lasting efforts of the Ricker family of Poland, Maine, to whom Abbott was closely related. Hiram Ricker’s Poland Spring House, begun…

Hauling Mount Zircon water in wooden barrels

Still Image / Available Online

From the late 1850s until the early 1890s, spring water was hauled off Mount Zircon in large wooden barrels. Steep and often muddy, the road from the spring to the valley floor challenged even expert horse drivers.

Article concerning Mt. Zircon House fire, 1872

Still Image / Available Online

Francis P. Putnam and family

Still Image

One-time owner of the Moon Tide Spring and “agent” for the Mount Zircon Spring Company, Francis P. Putnam is shown in this circa 1890 photograph alongside his sister, Drusilla Putnam Abbott Jackson, and his wife, Eunice Putnam.

Boston office of the Mount Zircon Spring Company

Still Image / Available Online

The Mount Zircon Spring Company, later the Mount Zircon Spring Water Company, maintained a main office in Boston from the 1890s until the 1920s.

Mount Zircon spring house

Still Image / Available Online

The Mount Zircon spring house, a small, hip-roofed building that once sported a crescent moon-shaped weathervane, was constructed over the Moon Tide Spring in 1890. The building remains standing today.

First Mount Zircon bottling plant being erected

Still Image / Available Online

The first bottling house on Mount Zircon was erected during the summer of 1896. Sited opposite the spring house on the road over “Zircon Hill,” the modest structure contained rooms on the first floor where the head bottler, Jason Hall, and his family…

Mount Zircon label

Still Image / Available Online

The now-famous Mount Zircon Moon Tide Spring trademark, showing a full moon rising over a cascading stream of water, probably dates from 1897, when the company began packaging spring water in glass bottles with paper labels. Over the years, at least…

1926 Mount Zircon Ginger Champagne ad

Still Image / Available Online

Flavored and carbonated beverages made with water from the Moon Tide Spring began to appear in the late 1890s. The famous Mount Zircon Ginger Champagne had become the Company’s most popular drink by the 1920s.

Second Mount Zircon hotel

Still Image / Available Online

Built by Arthur Sloan in 1904, the second hotel on Mount Zircon was operated for many years by his brother and sister-in-law, Joseph and Frances Sloan. The main summit of Mount Zircon appears on the right of this circa 1925 photograph. The building…

First Mount Zircon bottling plant interior

Still Image / Available Online

Taken in January of 1914, this is one of the few interior photographs of the first Mount Zircon bottling house known to exist. To prevent contamination during the bottling process, workers were required to wear caps and long smocks, and no smoking…

First Mount Zircon bottling plant attic

Still Image / Available Online

The attic story of the first Mount Zircon bottling house was where capping operations took place and where wooden crates were assembled. A close examination of this photograph taken in January 1914 reveals bottles containing Ginger Champagne (on the…

Mount Zircon Spring Water Co. plant

Still Image / Available Online

In response to an ever-increasing demand for Mount Zircon products, a much larger bottling plant was constructed alongside the South Rumford road in 1921-1922. The building plans were provided by the Boston engineering firm of Cleverdon, Varney and…

Second Mount Zircon bottling plant interior

Still Image / Available Online

The spacious interior of the new Mount Zircon bottling plant stood in marked contrast to the cramped quarters of the first bottling house, which closed in 1922. Hoses used during the bottling process were flushed out in the tank in the foreground.

Mount Zircon Spring Water Company bottle-shaped lunch stands

Still Image / Available Online

A handful of two-story, bottle-shaped lunch stands framed in wood and covered with a skin of galvanized metal were manufactured by the Mount Zircon Spring Water Company in the early 1920s.

Second Mount Zircon bottling plant interior

Still Image / Available Online

Up-to-date machinery that permitted assembly line production resulted in the Mount Zircon Spring Water Company becoming a major contender in the bottled water and carbonated beverage market along much of the East Coast in the 1920s.

Mount Zircon Spring Water Co. delivery truck

Still Image / Available Online

Parked in front of Rumford’s Municipal Building, a Mount Zircon delivery truck from the 1920s displays various types of advertising, including a giant spring water bottle, an “Indian” hood ornament, and the famous Moon Tide Spring logo.

Mount Zircon fire tower

Still Image / Available Online

A steel-framed fire tower was erected on the summit of Mount Zircon in the spring of 1922, just as the new bottling plant at the mountain’s base was being prepared for opening.

"Syrup room" of the Mount Zircon Spring Water Co. bottling plant

Still Image / Available Online

Brightly lit with numerous windows, the “syrup room” on the second floor of the new bottling plant boasted tiled walls and a decorative pressed metal ceiling.