Mountain Valley Spring Water is an American brand of spring water bottled in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

. It has been bottled continuously since 1871 and is currently owned by Clear Mountain Spring Water Company of

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, Arkansas. Mountain Valley Spring Water is distributed across the United States.

History

Mountain Valley water originates at a protected spring just west of Highway 7 North, approximately twelve miles from downtown Hot Springs. In 1871, pharmacist Peter E. Greene and his brother, John Greene, were the first to sell Mountain Valley Spring Water, which was then known in the Hot Springs area as “Lockett’s Spring Water” because of its association with Benjamin Lockett and his son, Enoch. The brothers renamed the water Mountain Valley after a small community nearby. In 1883, the Mountain Valley Water Company was officially formed, with Zeb Ward, G. G. Latta, Samuel Fordyce, and Samuel Stitt House as principal investors and company officers with Peter Greene remaining as local manager. Ownership of the spring was transferred in 1902, when August Schlafly of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri, already a major stockholder in the company, and his family became sole owners. By 1908, franchise offices had followed in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. An apocryphal tale holds that two strangers, traveling home to New York from Hot Springs by train, were in the dining car, and each produced a bottle of Mountain Valley for his respective table. This coincidence led to many conversations and then an agreement to form a fifty-fifty partnership for a Mountain Valley Water Company franchise in New York. Upon exchanging business cards, media mogul

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

discovered that his new partner was the well-known gambler

Richard Canfield Richard Albert Canfield (June 17, 1855 (birth record) or June 28, 1855 (grave) – December 11, 1914) was a prominent American businessman and art collector involved in illegal gambling throughout the northeastern United States during the late 1 ...

, a man against whom his newspapers were conducting a fierce campaign. By the 1920s, Mountain Valley Water was being served in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, and in 1928, distribution began in California, making Mountain Valley the first bottled water to be available coast to coast. In 1924, Schlafly purchased the DeSoto Springs Mineral Water Company, located at 150 Central Avenue in Hot Springs. The two-story, Classical Revival brick building was built specifically to house a mineral water depot. A third level was added in 1921 to house a Japanese-themed dance hall, with accommodation for a live band. The building remained the DeSoto Spring Water Depot and DeSoto Dance Hall until 1936 when Mountain Valley Water Company made the building its national headquarters and visitor center. In 1966, the Schlafly's sold the company to a group of distributors under the leadership of James G. Scott. The company's headquarters were moved to

Paramus Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

, New Jersey, and the historic Mountain Valley building was closed. In April 1987, Sammons Enterprises of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, purchased the company and returned administrative operations to Hot Springs. Sammons sold the company in April 2004 to the current private ownership. New York based CO OP Brand Co, illustrator Two Arms Inc, and Colorado based Land Design collaborated to create the new image and branding for the company in 2016

Health benefits

In an effort to discover what ingredient or ingredients made this spring water different from its competitors and beneficial to those with chronic disorders, the company encouraged the clinical and biochemical study of the water and its possible therapeutic effects in the 1920s and 1930s. Clinical tests at hospitals in New York, St. Louis, and Philadelphia demonstrated improvements in the health of patients with kidney and liver disorders and rheumatism as a result of drinking Mountain Valley Water. Studies after World War II in facilities in New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, and Houston further investigated the connection between the low-sodium content of the water and its alkaline buffering ability. The extensive testing of the spring water enabled the company to present a strong and successful defense to 1956 allegations by the Food and Drug Administration that its advertising claims were too broad and exaggerated.

Awards

Mountain Valley is America's most-awarded spring water, having won 19 honors from the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting since the organization's inception in 1991. 1992 3rd - Sparkling Mountain Valley Sparkling Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 1997 1st (tied) - Bottled Non-Carbonated Mountain Valley Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 1997 2nd - Sparkling Mountain Valley Sparkling Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 1998 2nd - Sparkling Mountain Valley Sparkling Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 1999 4th - Sparkling Mountain Valley Sparkling Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2000 4th - Bottled Non-Carbonated Mountain Valley Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2000 2nd (tied) - Sparkling Mountain Valley Sparkling Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2002 5th - Bottled Non-Carbonated Mountain Valley Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2003 Bottled Non-Carbonated Water Gold Medal: Mountain Valley Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2008 People's Choice Package Design 5th Place: Mountain Valley Vintage Glass, Hot Springs, AR 2011 Carbonated Bottled Water Silver Medal: Mountain Valley Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2012 Carbonated Bottled Water 5th Place: Mountain Valley Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR 2018 Best Bottled Water 2018 2nd—Mountain Valley Springs Water, Hot Springs, AR 2019 Best Flavored Essence Sparkling 1st – Mountain Valley Blackberry Pomegranate Sparkling Water. Hot Springs, AR 2019 Best Flavored Essence Sparkling 3rd – Mountain Valley White Peach Sparkling Water, Hot Springs, AR 2019 Best Sparkling – 2019 1st – Mountain Valley Spring Water Sparkling, Hot Springs, AR 2020 Best Sparkling – 2020 3rd – Mountain Valley Spring Water Sparkling, Hot Springs, AR 2020 Best Flavored Essence Sparkling 3rd– Mountain Valley Blackberry Pomegranate Sparkling Water. Hot Springs, AR 2021 Best Sparkling - 2021 5th (tied) Mountain Valley Sparkling Spring Water, Hot Springs, AR

Notable connoisseurs

Every United States President from

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

served Mountain Valley Spring Water in the White House. Following a heart attack in 1955, President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

drank the water on the advice of his physician. Other notable connoisseurs of the water included

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and boxing champions

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

, and

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded ...

.Consumption of the water has not been limited to humans: thoroughbreds such as

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

, Nashua, Kelso, Bold Ruler, and Sunday Silence were trained on this spring water. P. Allen Smith serves Mountain Valley Spring and Sparkling Water at his garden home. Mountain Valley Spring and Sparkling Waters are the official bottled waters of the

Southern Foodways Alliance Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) is an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, dedicated to the documentation, study and exploration of the foodways of the American South. Member-funded, it stages ...

and th
Society of Hickory Golfers

Legal and environmental issues

Because of the environmental impact of bottled water and the lack of any proven benefits of it compared to municipal tap water, states are increasingly banning its purchase using state funds. For example, states including

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

will not allow state money to be used to purchase bottled water for any State events at state-funded institutions. California and Massachusetts have similar laws preventing the use of taxpayer funds on these products.

In popular culture

Mountain Valley Spring Water has a long show business tradition that dates back to

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

. Mountain Valley Spring Water was featured on screen in the convenience store in John Carpenter's

The Fog ''The Fog'' is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and created the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh and Hal Holbrook. It ...

. Today, Mountain Valley shares the screen with stars such as

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera ''General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Bra ...

Paul Reiser Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...

, and

Ashley Judd Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...

. On television, Mountain Valley has been featured in episodes of ''

Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...

'' and ''

Happily Divorced ''Happily Divorced'' is an American sitcom created by Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson. Inspired by their own experiences as a formerly married couple, the series, which became TV Land's third original scripted series following ''Hot in Clev ...

''.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em * http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2148 * http://www.berkeleysprings.com/water/awards2.htm * http://www.foodbev.com/news/mountain-valley-spring-water-packs-in-25-rpet * http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/state-agencies-to-phase-out-use-of-bottled-water/

External links

Official Site
Bottled water brands